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Trump EPA to weaken rule limiting harmful mercury, air toxics from coal plants
The EPA rollback reverses Biden-era rules, allowing coal plants to emit up to 50% more mercury pollution, aiming to reduce compliance costs by $670 million over 10 years.
- At an event in Kentucky on Feb 20, the EPA said it will weaken regulations limiting mercury and toxic air pollutants from coal-fired power plants.
- The EPA argued easing pollution standards would lower costs for utilities that run older coal plants as power demand rises with expanding data centers used for artificial intelligence.
- The MATS rule would have cut mercury pollution by 70% and reduced nickel, arsenic, and lead by two-thirds, with the Environmental Defense Fund estimating $420 million in health savings through 2037.
- Last spring the administration issued a proclamation inviting coal plants to request two-year exemptions from MATS, and sixty-eight plants were granted exemptions while last week the White House directed the Pentagon to buy coal power as the EPA repealed the endangerment finding.
- Environmental and public-health groups warned weakening mercury limits will raise health-related costs, noting coal-burning power plants generate less than 20% of U.S. electricity, per the Energy Information Administration.
103 Articles
103 Articles
EPA Repeals Biden-Era Mercury Standards for Coal-Fired Power Plants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Feb. 20 it would repeal Biden-era rules that further limited mercury and hazardous air pollutant emissions from coal-fired power plants. The rules stem from the Biden administration’s 2024 amendments to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) that would have reduced mercury emission limits for lignite-fired power plants by 70 percent. The EPA said in a statement that easing the emission …
EPA scraps Biden coal restrictions as advocates say move will restore American dominance
A leading domestic energy advocacy group praised EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s announcement that his agency would undo recent additions to the federal "mercury and air-toxics standards" (MATS) for coal-fired power plants.Zeldin said removing the restrictions allows the already "robust" MATS standards to remain in effect, ensuring both public health and the health of America’s coal industry amid a push for U.S. energy dominance."The Biden-Harris…
Wyoming impact uncertain as Trump slashes mercury emission standards for coal power plants
After axing a federal doctrine to regulate greenhouse gas emissions earlier this month, the Trump administration rolled back additional air quality standards Friday — this time for limiting mercury and other deadly toxins from coal smokestack emissions. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency’s repeal of Biden-era amendments that increased mercury and air toxics standards. The repeal applies to mercury…
EPA repeals Biden-era coal rules aimed at limiting brain-harming pollution
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repealed Biden-era regulations that forced power plants to cut harmful pollutants including brain-damaging mercury and particulate matter, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced on Friday. At an event at the Mill Creek Power Plant in Kentucky, the agency announced the repeal of a 2024 rule known as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for power plants, or MATS. The repeal specifically scrapped tighte…
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