Steam is emitted from smokestacks at a coal-fired power plant on Nov. 17, 2021, in Craig, Colo.
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Energy & Environment
Energy & Environment
The Big Story
EPA restores legal basis for coal plant regulation
The Biden administration has restored the legal basis for limiting releases of toxic substances including mercury from coal- and oil-fired power plants.
The move comes after the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards’ legal justification was undermined by the Trump administration.
Mercury can cause brain and nervous system damage with in-utero exposure, as well as cause kidney problems in both adults and children. Meanwhile, exposure to other substances limited by the rule, such as arsenic, chromium and nickel, can cause cancer.
The Trump administration made the regulation in question more susceptible to court challenges, though it did not change the substance of the rule. The Biden administration reversed that decision, finding the regulation to be “appropriate and necessary.”
In 2020, coal company Westmoreland Mining Holdings sued in an attempt to knock out pollution regulation after the Trump administration undercut its legal basis.
Mark DeLaquil, outside litigation counsel for Westmoreland, told The Hill on Friday that the case had already been halted.
DeLaquil added, in an interview prior to the EPA’s announcement, that the company would evaluate whether or not it is appropriate to continue its lawsuit once the EPA reestablished the “appropriate and necessary” finding.
The agency said in a fact sheet that the rule has been “extremely effective” at keeping power plant pollution out of the air. Their mercury emissions dropped by 86 percent between 2010 and 2017.
Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.
The Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will deploy toxicologists and medical staff to East Palestine, Ohio, to conduct testing relating to the railway disaster that hit the town earlier this month.
The mayor of East Palestine, Ohio, said Friday that he is concerned about the safety of the air as some residents report smelling noxious odors and feeling ill, two weeks after a train derailed in the town and leaked dangerous chemicals.
A coalition of environmental organizations on Thursday called on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to act on a rail safety rule scrapped by the Trump administration, arguing failure to enforce it increases the likelihood of environmental rail disasters.
An 18-wheeler struck a Union Pacific freight train in Houston on Monday, killing the truck driver and knocking the train off its tracks. The incident followed another crash earlier this month that spilled toxic chemicals outside the town of East Palestine, Ohio.
A new bill introduced by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb) aims to increase transparency around disability-related complaints for air travel passengers. Read more
