The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday rolled back limits on mercury and toxic metal emissions from coal-fired power plants, allowing facilities to release more than twice the mercury permitted under Biden-era standards.
Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the repeal at the Mills Creek Power Plant in Louisville, Kentucky. The final rule eliminates 2024 amendments to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards that had cut toxic metal emissions by 67 percent. Those standards also reduced mercury limits from lignite-fired plants by 70 percent. The rollback also loosens restrictions on arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and nickel.
The EPA estimated the change will save industry $670 million between 2028 and 2037 but did not explain how it arrived at that figure. Biden’s EPA had projected $300 million in health benefits over the same period from the stricter standards.
Coal plants are the largest single source of mercury pollution in the United States. Mercury is a neurotoxin that causes brain damage and developmental delays in children. The Biden administration’s own analysis found the original 2012 standards had already cut mercury emissions from coal plants by 90 percent — the 2024 updates pushed further.
The move came eight days after a larger deregulatory action. On February 12, the EPA repealed the endangerment finding — the legal foundation for all federal greenhouse gas regulation under the Clean Air Act. That action removed the government’s obligation to regulate carbon emissions across every sector, from vehicles to power plants.
Former EPA scientist Matthew Davis said the mercury rollback alone will contribute to thousands of additional deaths, asthma attacks, and learning disabilities. The EPA press release framed it as reversing the “war on beautiful clean coal.”
Support Independent Local Journalism — High Country Advocate was created as a real alternative to regional media that too often silences dissenting voices while taking sides in the political struggle. Producing in-depth, unflinching reporting like this series and others is expensive: servers, editing, research time, and legal review all add up quickly. If these articles have informed you or given you new perspective, please consider supporting HCA with a paid subscription — every subscriber helps keep this reporting strong and independent. 