Jun. 14--Legislation to align mercury emissions from Pennsylvania power plants with widely criticized federal guidelines was approved Tuesday by the state Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

The approval seeks to block a Rendell administration attempt to impose a more stringent mercury-emissions reduction plan for the state's coal-fired power plants.

The bill will be scheduled for a vote in the House and Senate.

In Pennsylvania, about 75 percent of mercury emissions come from coal-fired power plants such as the Reliant Energy Titus Power Plant in Cumru Township, according to state officials.

Under guidelines issued by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, power plants are to install technology that would cut mercury emissions by 70 percent by 2018.

The Rendell-backed plan would achieve a 90 percent reduction by 2015, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The federal rules, however, allow power plants to buy emissions credits from lesspolluting plants to increase their own allowable mercury emissions.

According to DEP spokes--man Kurt Knaus, Pennsylvania power plants have already bought more emissions credits than any other state, which means they fund upgrades elsewhere and have no real incentive to cut mercury emissions.

The EPA rule also works against coal mined locally, because bituminous coal has a higher mercury content than coal mined in the western United States, Knaus said.

"The rule is prejudicial to Pennsylvania coal and threatens mining jobs in Pennsylvania," he said. "There certainly is public sentiment that the federal standards just don't cut it."

More than 20 states have opposed the federal rule because the emissions trading program would mean significant mercury reductions would not be seen until at least 2030, critics have said.

Committee member Sen. James Rhoades, a Schuylkill County Republican who represents parts of Berks, said he voted for the legislation because he believed exceeding federal guidelines would hurt the state's older power plants.

"If you make it more stringent for them to comply, you put them at a disadvantage because the technology would cost too much and put them out of the program," he said.

Rhoades also said the differences in mercury emissions between the federal guidelines and the Rendell plan aren't enough to outweigh the economic risks.

"The evidence just wasn't there that we were creating a health hazard," he said. "This way we can hold onto the jobs we have and the economic opportunities it presents. It might not accomplish (reductions) as quick, but it's not going to cost us in jobs or cost the consumer."

Contact reporter Adam Wilson at 610-371-5042 or awilson@readingeagle.com.