Trump’s EPA to roll back rule limiting hazardous mercury from coal plants | Trump administration
The Trump administration announced Friday it will roll back air regulations for power plants limiting mercury and dangerous toxic substances in the air at an event in Kentucky, a move it says will increase the energy base but which public health groups say will harm the public health of the most vulnerable groups in the United States.
Donald Trump’s EPA said easing pollution standards for coal plants would reduce costs for utilities that operate older coal plants at a time when demand for electricity is exploding due to the expansion of data centers used for artificial intelligence.
But environmental groups said weakening standards for mercury, a neurotoxin that can harm babies’ brain development, and other toxic substances in the air would lead to higher health-related costs.
The Biden-era Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS), which updated standards established in 2012 under the Obama administration, was still in effect after the Supreme Court declined to suspend the rules after a group of mostly Republican states and industry groups sued to suspend it.
The rule would cut permitted mercury pollution from coal plants by 70 percent, emissions of nickel, arsenic, lead and other toxic metals from coal plants by two-thirds, and result in health cost savings of $420 million through 2037, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.
The EPA said in a statement Wednesday that the 2012 Mats rule provided “a sufficient margin of safety to protect public health” and that the proposed 2024 additions would cost more than they would benefit.
Utilities have been phasing out aging coal-fired generators, which are major sources of mercury and carbon emissions, but Trump has promised to reduce barriers to meet growing demand for electricity from artificial intelligence and data centers.
He declared an “energy emergency” last year to justify measures to keep aging coal plants open that need to be closed and to exempt aging coal plants from major air regulations.
Last spring, he issued a proclamation inviting coal plants to request by email to be exempt from Mats regulations for two years as part of his administration’s energy emergency. Sixty-eight factories benefited from exemptions.
Last week, the EPA announced it was rescinding the “danger finding,” which gave the agency authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and the White House ordered the Pentagon to purchase electricity from coal-fired plants for military use.
Coal-fired power plants are among the largest sources of hazardous air pollution, including mercury, lead, arsenic, and acid gases, as well as major sources of benzene, formaldehyde, dioxins, and other hazardous organic air pollutants.
Coal-fired plants generate less than 20% of America’s electricity, according to the Energy Information Administration.
