PA Mercury Emissions Restrictions Stricken

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a decision by Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pelligrini to throw out a state rule that required coal-fired power plants to reduce mercury emissions below federal standards. The high court says Pelligrini was correct when he called the regulation "unlawful, invalid and unenforceable." Allentown-based PPL Corporation challenged the rule which had made Pennsylvania the first major coal-producing state to attack mercury emissions. However, a federal judge last year ordered that mercury be returned to a list of hazardous pollutants that Pennsylvania cannot regulate under state law.