NJ environmentalists praise new power plant rules

Regulators say some of New Jersey's coal-fired power plants will have to get makeovers quickly to comply with a new set of federal rules designed to cut down on air pollution crossing state lines that was finalized Thursday.

But the big change could come from what happens elsewhere. Pennsylvania and Ohio, coal-dependent states that are upwind of New Jersey, both have requirements to make major cuts to emissions of the chemicals that cause smog and acid rain, starting next year.

"It's great news for New Jersey. It's great news for anyone who wants to breathe clean air," Judith Enck, the administrator for the federal Environmental Protection Agency region that includes New Jersey and New York. "We know that air pollution does not respect state boundaries."

The EPA estimates that the changes could avert 450 to 1,200 premature deaths per year in New Jersey and between 13,000 and 34,000 a year in the 27 states affected by the rules.

The rules replace ones from 2005 that was struck down by a federal court. Enck said the new version should withstand any court challenges.

Critics, including some who speak for the coal industry, see the rules as an expensive attack on the industry by the Obama administration.

Mike Jennings, a spokesman for Public Service Enterprise Group, New Jersey's largest utility and the operator of several coal-fired plants in New Jersey and elsewhere, could not say Thursday what the regulations could mean for the company. The company generally has supported measures to control pollutants that cross state lines.

EPA data show New Jersey, which has 36 coal-fired power plants, contributes to pollution largely in Connecticut and New York.

One of New Jersey's main environmentalists, state Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel, said the rule is needed because New Jersey receives so much pollution from elsewhere. He said the Portland Generating Station in Northampton County, Pa., is the single biggest cause of air pollution in northwestern New Jersey.

"This rule is really going to help people in New Jersey breathe better," he said. "We have some of the worst air pollution in the United States."