EPA is rescheduling its May 26, 2009 public hearing to solicit comments on a proposal to slash mercury emissions from Portland cement kilns in order to have hearings at additional locations.

EPA will hold three hearings, to be scheduled for mid-June, to take public comment on the agency’s April 21 proposal to significantly reduce mercury emissions from Portland cement kilns, the fourth-largest source of mercury air emissions in the United States. The proposal would set the nation’s first limits on mercury emissions from existing kilns and would strengthen the limits for new kilns. The proposed standards also would set emission limits for total hydrocarbons and particulate matter from cement kilns of all sizes, and would reduce hydrochloric acid emissions from kilns that are large emitters.

In response to requests, EPA is now planning to hold the hearings in the Dallas, Los Angeles and Washington, DC areas. The agency will announce specific times and locations as soon as the hearing dates are set.