Boiler rules would cut emissions to Ohio plants, EPA says

The new rules, if put into effect, will have a major impact on virtually every part of the United States, particularly the industrial Midwest. They would cover boilers that burn natural gas, coal and oil to produce heat and electricity for factories, universities, hotels and commercial buildings.

In addition, the rules would require sharp reductions in toxic emissions from incinerators that burn solid waste at commercial and industrial sites.

The EPA has said it would allow 45 days for public comment, including hearings, which would allow U.S. companies to object. The EPA is hoping the proposed regulations will go into effect by the end of the year.

Lisa Jackson, administrator of the EPA, said in a statement that “strong cuts to mercury and other harmful emissions will have real benefits for our health and our environment, spur clean technology innovations and save American communities billions of dollars in avoided health costs.’’

Ohio’s two senators have already come out against the proposed regulations. In March, Sens. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, urged Jackson in a letter that the rules under consideration “could impose significant capital costs at thousands of facilities across the country.’’

They warned Jackson that “our states and our nation simply cannot afford job losses associated with rules more stringent than necessary to protect the public health and safety.’’

Environmentalists, however, hailed the EPA’s new rules. Frank O’Donnell, president of the Clean Air Watch, a non-profit environmental organization in Washington, called them “a huge step towards protecting children from toxic mercury and other hazards from smokestack pollution.’’

“This is one of the most significant steps taken by the Obama EPA to protect public health,’’ O’Donnell said. “Literally thousands of dirty-air deaths would be prevented each year.’’

The EPA said the new rules, if fully put in place, would save as much as $44 billion every year in health costs and prevent as many as 5,200 premature deaths.