EPA and the Chicago Board of Trade announced that the fifth annual acid rain allowance auction resulted in proceeds totaling over $32 million, which will be returned to the utilities from which the allowances were drawn. The auction is part of EPA’s program to significantly reduce acid rain by cutting utility sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions in half nationwide. Acid rain can damage lakes and aquatic life and affect the human respiratory system. The auction gives power plants, brokers, and private citizens anywhere in the world the chance to buy and sell SO2 allowances. An allowance is an authorization, established by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, giving affected sources (mainly existing electric power plants) the right to emit one ton of SO2 in a designated year or any year thereafter. Electric utilities account for 70 percent of nationwide SO2 emissions.
From Daily Regulatory Reporter
