The Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a rollback of Biden-era limits on mercury and other toxic air pollution from coal-fired power plants, saying the move will lower costs and protect energy reliability.
The change repeals 2024 updates to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, known as MATS, which had tightened limits and monitoring requirements for hazardous emissions including mercury, arsenic and lead.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the action would reduce regulatory burdens and help keep energy affordable. In a statement, the agency said it will continue enforcing the original 2012 rule and ensure public health is protected “without compromising America’s energy or economic prosperity.”
The EPA said the rollback will save an estimated $670 million and help maintain reliable power generation from coal plants.
Public health advocates strongly disagree, warning the change could increase pollution exposure, especially for children and pregnant women.
Elizabeth Bechard, public health manager for Moms Clean Air Force, said the rule previously strengthened protections against mercury and particle pollution from coal plants.
“This repeal means there will be more pollution going into the air from coal plants that would have otherwise had to comply with the updates,” Bechard said. “That means less protection for children from mercury and other hazardous air pollutants.”
Mercury released into the air can settle into waterways and convert into methylmercury, a potent neurotoxin that can accumulate in fish and enter the food supply.
“When people who are pregnant ingest methylmercury, it can cross the placental barrier and accumulate in a developing baby’s brain,” Bechard said. “It can do profound damage to babies’ brain development.”
The rollback is part of a broader deregulatory push by the Trump administration to support what officials have described as “beautiful clean coal” and expand domestic energy production.
Bechard said families living near coal plants could face increased risks.
“This move will mean more mercury, more lead, more particle pollution in the air that our children breathe and the food that our children eat,” Bechard said.
The EPA says the existing 2012 standards already led to major reductions in toxic emissions and remain protective of public health. Environmental and public health groups say they are considering legal challenges.