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says. ���We���re not saying we shouldn���t protect our environment. We just think some of these new Environmental Protection Agency changes for coalpowered plants may only have negligible results and they���re costing millions.��� The Boiler MACT rule, proposed as a way to curb emissions of pollutants from industrial boilers, was announced by the EPA in December and published in February and gives companies until February 2016 to comply. That has some companies with coal-powered boilers scrambling a bit. Appleton Papers has already decided to convert its coal-powered boilers in Appleton to gas, but what changes to make at each facility will be done individually, says Pam Barker, executive director of environmental, health and product safety for the papermaker. ���Companies need to decide what to do. Not all boilers can be converted to use gas or in some cases, gas might not be available,��� she says. ���Some companies may look at putting on better controls. You just need to figure out what you need to do to be compliant and weigh all the costs.��� Landin explains that many mills ��� especially those in Wisconsin ��� are older and rely on coal as a power source. ���Companies don���t like uncertainty. They worry that investing millions of dollars to become compliant might not fix all of the problems,��� he says. ���For some companies, they have mills in other places that are powered by natural gas and they might look at moving operations there and shutting down the coal-powered plants. We just don���t know.��� While Appleton Papers waited for the EPA to make its decision last December about the new rules, there was a lot of hand-wringing. ���No one could really predict what the final rules were going to be, but now that we know what���s happening, we need to move ahead,��� Landin says. ���It���s always a fine walk between protecting the environment and doing what���s best for the company.��� w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m We grow entrepreneurs May 7 ��� August 6 E-seed��� Entrepreneurship Training May 22 ��� May 25 Pro-Seed���: Business Model Design For more information please contact the Venture Center at venture@fvtc.edu or call 920-735-5709 venturecenterwi.biz A p r i l 2 013 ��� Insight | 21