NEWS

May 29, 2006

Contact:        
Andy Bowen
877-251-0400

25 Eastern states facing September power plant pollution deadline;
E3 Consulting warns that few states are working on compliance plans

DENVER – E3 Consulting LLC, which specializes in financial, technical, operational and environmental analysis for energy sector clients, predicted today that most of the 28 eastern states facing tougher new EPA emissions standards for coal-fired power plants will be unable to meet the September deadline for their compliance plans.
           
Experts at E3 Consulting who have reviewed the air compliance planning processes in the targeted states say not all states appear to be on track to be able to make the deadline.
           
“More and more people are becoming aware of the difficulty of meeting the September deadline, and there will be more and more anxiety as a result, which is understandable considering the process to revise implementation plans in some states,” said James F. Short, Senior Vice President at E3 Consulting.
           
In March of 2005, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued the Clean Air Interstate Rule and the Clean Air Mercury Rule, which are designed to begin cutting sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants east of the Mississippi River beginning in 2009.
           
The EPA set the deadline for State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to be filed by Sept. 11, 2009. “It is not clear that all of the states are responding in a way that will allow them to meet the deadline” said Short. E3 believes that as the Sept. 11 deadline for submitting plans draws closer, states will request the EPA for extensions of time to file, and some litigation may result.