E.P.A. Plans to Loosen Mercury Rules for Coal Plants

Old_Joe

Following are edited excerpts from a current report in The New York Times:

Senior officials at the Environmental Protection Agency are expected to announce the move on Friday, according to people briefed on the matter.

The Environmental Protection Agency plans this week to loosen restrictions on coal-burning power plants, allowing them to emit more hazardous pollutants including mercury, a powerful neurotoxin that can impair babies’ brain development, internal agency documents show. In addition, the move this week would repeal a requirement that all coal plants continuously monitor the emissions from their smokestacks, according to the internal agency documents. That requirement was intended to reduce releases of fine particulate matter, which is tied to asthma, heart and lung disease and premature death.

Senior E.P.A. officials are expected to announce the move during a trip to Louisville, Ky., on Friday, according to two people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. The move is one of many efforts by the Trump administration to make it easier and cheaper to produce and use fossil fuels, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that pollution from burning oil, gas and coal is harming public health and dangerously warming the planet.

In particular, the administration is taking steps to improve the economics of coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, by rolling back several regulations that would have made it much more expensive, if not impossible, for many coal plants to keep operating. Over the past nine months, the Energy Department has taken the extraordinary step of ordering eight coal-burning units that had been headed for retirement to stay open and keep running. Administration officials say they plan to stop the closure of as many additional coal plants as possible over the next three years.

When coal is burned, it releases mercury into Earth’s atmosphere. Rain, snow and fog can carry the mercury to the ground, where it can settle in soil as well as in lakes and streams and can accumulate in fish. Most people are exposed to mercury pollution by eating contaminated fish and shellfish. High levels of exposure can cause severe damage to the nervous system, brain and kidneys and can threaten the development of fetuses, babies and young children.

In loosening the mercury limits, the E.P.A. is arguing that it would save companies as much as $670 million between 2028 and 2037, the documents show. It was not immediately clear how the agency arrived at that number. The E.P.A. has already exempted 47 companies from regulations to curb mercury and other toxic pollutants from coal plants for two years.

Coal plants are responsible for nearly half of all mercury emissions in the United States, according to the E.P.A. Besides mercury, the move this week would relax limits on other pollutants released by burning coal, including arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and nickel. Lead in particular is another potent neurotoxin linked to developmental delays in children.

Coal-industry groups have argued that the Biden-era standards imposed burdensome costs on utilities, forcing coal plants to close and eroding the reliability of the nation’s electric grid.

Under the Trump administration, the E.P.A. has stopped assigning a dollar value to the health benefits of reducing air pollution.

DrVenture

So, the folks who work at these plants and the surrounding communities (friends and families) may be exposed to the harmful effects of mercury poisoning. And anyone who eats the seafood from the surrounding waters. Over a relatively minuscule amount of 670 million across the entire industry over a 10 year span.

Something is being made "great" again, but it will not be these peoples quality of life. I can't help but think that they voted for this, in places like Kentucky, so have at it!

Mark

Time for a new parody of The Police's "Every Breath You Take"

msf

So, the folks who work at these plants and the surrounding communities (friends and families) may be exposed to the harmful effects of mercury poisoning

Not just any communities but military communities.

Mr. Trump signed an executive order [Feb 11] directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to enter into long-term contracts with coal plants across the country to power military installations.
...
There are more than 40 coal-burning plants within 100 miles of military installations around the country, said Michelle Bloodworth, the president of America’s Power, a coal industry trade group.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/climate/trump-coal-pentagon-electricity.html