by Jbs060710 e3 — June 9, 2010—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a final new health standard for sulfur dioxide (SO2), which it says is the first new SO2 standard in 40 years. This one-hour health standard is designed to protect millions of Americans from short-term primary exposure to SO2. A separate SO2 secondary standard review will be completed in 2012.
SO2 is primarily emitted from fossil fuel combustion at power plants and other industrial facilities, notes EPA. Smaller sources of SO2 emissions include industrial processes such as extracting metal from ore, and the burning of high sulfur containing fuels by locomotives, large ships and non-road equipment.
EPA estimates that the health benefits associated with this rule range between $13 billion and $33 billion annually. These benefits include preventing 2,300 to 5,900 premature deaths and 54,000 asthma attacks a year. The estimated cost in 2020 to fully implement this standard is approximately $1.5 billion.
