Trump Administration Rolls Back Mercury Pollution Controls for Coal Power Plants

The Trump administration announced Friday it will weaken air quality regulations that limit mercury and other toxic emissions from coal-fired power plants. Officials say the move will help meet growing energy demands from data centers, but health advocates warn it could harm vulnerable populations.

The Trump administration revealed plans Friday to scale back environmental regulations controlling mercury and other dangerous air pollutants from coal-burning power facilities during an announcement in Kentucky. Officials argue this action will strengthen energy reliability, while public health advocates warn it poses risks to America’s most at-risk communities.

The Environmental Protection Agency under President Trump contends that relaxing these pollution controls will reduce operational expenses for utility companies operating older coal facilities during a period of increasing electricity demands driven by artificial intelligence data center growth.

However, environmental advocates argue that loosening restrictions on mercury—a dangerous neurotoxin capable of damaging infant brain development—along with other harmful air pollutants will ultimately increase healthcare expenses.

The current Mercury and Air Toxics Standard from the Biden administration, which enhanced regulations originally established in 2012 during the Obama presidency, remained active after the Supreme Court refused to halt the requirements following legal challenges from primarily Republican-led states and industry organizations.

According to the Environmental Defense Fund, these existing regulations would cut permitted mercury emissions from coal facilities by 70%, decrease nickel, arsenic, lead and other dangerous metal emissions by two-thirds, and generate $420 million in health-related cost savings by 2037.

In a Wednesday statement, the EPA indicated that the original 2012 MATS regulations offer “an ample margin of safety to protect public health,” while claiming the proposed 2024 enhancements would impose costs exceeding their benefits.

Power companies had been gradually retiring older coal-burning facilities, which represent significant sources of mercury and carbon pollution, but Trump has pledged to eliminate obstacles preventing increased electricity generation needed for artificial intelligence applications and data processing centers.

Trump proclaimed an “energy emergency” last year to support efforts keeping aging coal facilities operational that were scheduled for shutdown and to exclude older coal plants from important air quality regulations.

During spring of last year, he issued an order allowing coal facilities to request email-based exemptions from MATS requirements for two years under his administration’s energy emergency declaration. Sixty-eight facilities received these exemptions.

The EPA announced last week it was eliminating the “endangerment finding,” which provided the agency authority to control greenhouse gas pollution, while the White House instructed the Pentagon to buy electricity from coal facilities for military operations.

Coal-fired generating stations rank among the biggest contributors of dangerous air contamination, including mercury, lead, arsenic, and acidic gases, plus significant sources of benzene, formaldehyde, dioxins and additional organic toxic air pollutants.

According to the Energy Information Administration, coal facilities produce under 20% of America’s electrical power.