The Environmental Protection Agency plans to undermine Biden-era regulations calling for power plants to reduce pollutants, including mercury emissions, a neurotoxin that damages brain development, according to internal agency documents.
EPA administrator Lee Zeldin will announce the proposed changes within days, according to two people who have been described on the agency's plans. Zeldin will also announce another proposal to eliminate greenhouse gas restrictions from the power plant, according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the agency plan.
Together, change represents a denial of efforts made by the Biden administration to tackle climate change and address the disproportionate levels of air pollution faced by communities near power plants and other industrial sites. Perhaps at the end of this year, which rules are expected to face legal challenges.
The move is part of a broader strategy by the Trump administration to expand the use of fossil fuels, and its burning has dangerously warmed the planet. President Trump has taken several recent steps to boost the use of the dirty coal of fossil fuels.
An EPA spokesperson did not confirm the details of the regulations or when it would be published. However, Zeldin said in a statement that he “opposes shutting down clean, affordable, reliable energy for American families.”
“The EPA needs to pursue common sense regulations to promote a great American comeback, rather than continuing the path of destruction and poverty of the last administration,” he said.
Zeldin's plan for mercury and other toxic substances seen by the New York Times said that in 2024, the Biden administration would “improperly target” coal-fired power plants that were “improperly targeted” if contamination levels were limited.
According to the document, the new regulations will loosen the emission limits of toxic substances such as lead, nickel and arsenic by 67%. For some coal plants, the proposed rule reduces the mercury limit by 70%. It also eliminates the requirement that all plants continue to monitor exhaust coming out of the chimney.
The change reverses the most stringent requirements imposed by the Biden administration. The Biden administration aims to curb dangerous toxins and to promote the transition from coal-fired power plants to clean energy sources such as solar and wind.
When coal is burned, it releases mercury, which can pollute the land, oceans and streams. Coal-fired power plants account for 44% of all US mercury emissions, according to the EPA.
In the atmosphere, mercury emissions can be converted to a form known as methyl mercury and accumulate in fish and other foods. Exposure can cause serious neurological damage to fetal and child development and is associated with respiratory and heart disease in adults.
“Children's brains are developing at a very fast pace, and mercury in the body can have a serious impact on development,” said Matthew Davis, a former EPA official who supported the country's first rules to reduce mercury emissions from coal power plants during the Obama administration.
The federal government first cracked down on mercury from power plants in 2011 under President Barack Obama. That regulation was rewinded in the first Trump administration, but was tightened under the Biden administration. In October, the Supreme Court rejected requests from 23 Republican states and a few coal companies, blocking the enforcement of the policy.
In April, the Trump administration also granted dozens of coal-fired power plants that exempt mercury and other air pollutants restrictions. Davis, now vice president of federal policy for the environmental group Conservation Voters Federation, calls it “away from prison escape cards” for polluters.
“This administration wants to take wrecking balls to protect our health and doesn't care about the health of future generations whose developing brains have been damaged by this highly toxic contaminant,” he said.
The proposed regulations to undermine mercury standards are expected to come with another plan to eliminate all restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants.
According to the latest data available on the EPA website, the electricity sector was the second largest source of greenhouse gases, after transportation. Globally, power plants account for around 30% of the pollution that drives climate change.
However, according to the draft rule reviewed by The New York Times, Zeldin intends to argue that US power plants' emissions have not contributed “significantly” to climate change.
He does so by claiming that emissions from US fossil fuel burning power plants are only represented by 3% of global greenhouse gases in 2022, down from 5.5% in 2005.
However, analysts said the Trump administration is comparing apples to oranges. The US power plant was responsible for approximately 25% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions in 2022. In 2023, it released approximately 1.5 billion tons of emissions. This exceeds the greenhouse gas emissions most countries produce.
Laura Kate Bender, assistant vice president of the American Lung Association, called the obsolete pair a “smash hit” in the fight against climate change and air pollution.
“Together, these rules mean more contamination that can be prevented for communities who live around plants and breathe more harmful emissions that may be prevented,” she said.
