Congressman says EPA emission proposals are too costly

Jackson's mayor and employees of the city's power plant outlined Thursday to U.S. Rep. Jason Smith recent spending of taxpayer money they say was forced by Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

Smith's visit was part of a tour this week of local utilities to discuss the EPA's recently proposed rules on emissions. On Wednesday, Smith, a Republican from Salem, Mo., met with members of the municipal utilities board of Sikeston, Mo.

Smith is among federal legislators who oppose the agency's attempts to limit the release of carbon dioxide by coal-fired power plants using capturing technologies because he said he sees the power-production method as efficient and cost-effective for industrial, commercial and residential customers in Missouri.

"We have an abundant supply of coal," Smith said, " ... more coal than the Middle East has oil. But we are always having rules and regulations put in place that hurt us."

A concern of the city of Jackson, according to Mayor Barbara Lohr, is the city does not want to have to pass the cost of regulation-related upgrades on to customers, especially since new EPA rules already have cost the city in recent years.

During the tour in Jackson, Don Schuette, the city's director of electric utilities, showed Smith equipment the city had to purchase and install on backup generators in 2012 to reduce emissions.

"What we're looking at is about $1 million more than we had or wanted to spend," Schuette said, pointing to the smokestack extending from the generator.

An EPA ruling known as RICE NESHAP, which stands for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, caused the city to spend money on the equipment. But the ruling, according to Schuette, goes beyond money. Four other aging backup generators also will be taken out of service by the end of this year because they couldn't be upgraded to EPA's standards. The result is the city will be left with less backup power capability.

Schuette said the ruling was unreasonable for the city -- he compared the emissions from the generators over the course of a year to the amount from a semi-truck in one day because the generators are turned on only a few times a year, and most of that run time is only for maintenance checks.

Smith said during the tour he sees the proposed rules as a way businesses on the East and West coasts gaining a competitive edge over industries in the Midwest, where the cost to operate is lower because much of its electricity comes from coal-fired plants.

Local members of Congress fighting back in a so-called "war on coal" is not new in Southeast Missouri -- former representative Jo Ann Emerson worked against efforts to pass new regulations on coal-fired power plants and left her elected seat in Congress to become CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, which regularly opposes the EPA's rules.

eragan@semissourian.com

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