Continuing the Trump administration’s “war for coal,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last Friday announced its final order repealing tougher Biden-era amendments to limit emissions of mercury and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from coal- and oil-fired power plants.
The repeal of amendments to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule finalized in 2024 by the Biden administration means the power industry would now be bound by the less-stringent emissions rate adopted in 2012. Under Friday’s final rule, nationwide allowable missions of mercury (Hg) from power plants would rise about 1.5 tons per year in 2035, to approximately 8.2 tons compared to the 6.7 tons contained in the 2024 amendments.
