Court strikes down EPA mercury regulation

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- The Environmental Protection Administration violated federal law with new regulations about mercury emissions, a U.S. appeals court ruled Friday.

The court ruled in favor of an alliance of 17 states and a number of environmental groups in their challenge to the Bush administration, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The regulations, set to take effect in 2010, would have allowed plants that failed to meet targets for mercury to buy credits from plants that did better than their targets. Environmentalists argued that the cap-and-trade system is not appropriate for mercury because it tends to concentrate instead of dispersing, creating "hot spots."

Scott Edwards of the Waterkeeper Alliance called the regulation "perhaps the biggest sellout ever in the history of the EPA."

"It's a real tragedy that we've had to spend two years getting this industry-scripted scheme struck down while energy companies continue to poison our children," he said.