EPA proposes tighter pollution limits for coal plants

The Biden administration is proposing to tighten standards for pollution coming from coal-fired power plants.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Tuesday that it is proposing to strengthen restrictions under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for the first time in more than a decade. 

The agency said it will update limits for pollutants, including lead, nickel and arsenic, by 67 percent for all coal power plants. Exposure to these substances raises the risk of developmental delays in children, as well as heart attacks and cancer. 

It will also increase mercury controls by 70 percent for some power plants — specifically those that use a type of coal known as lignite, which have been operating under looser mercury limits than other coal plants. Lignite plants are located primarily in North Dakota and Texas, EPA officials said Wednesday.

Exposure to high levels of mercury can cause harm to a person’s brain, heart, kidneys, lungs and immune system.

In a press release, EPA administrator Michael Regan touted the proposed changes as an important step for protecting public health.

“By leveraging proven, emissions-reduction measures available at reasonable costs and encouraging new, advanced control technologies, we can reduce hazardous pollution from coal-fired power plants, protecting our planet and improving public health for all,” Regan said.

The agency has projected compliance with the regulation will cost between $230 million to $330 million but will deliver between $2.4 billion to $3 billion in health and climate benefits.

Specifically, the changes are expected to result in reductions of 82 pounds of mercury, 800 tons of soot and 5 million tons of carbon dioxide in the year 2025.

An EPA official said Monday that the agency has projected that the regulations could cause electricity from the equivalent of about one coal plant to go offline, shutting down instead of choosing to implement technologies needed to comply with the new regulations.

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) criticized the rule as part of a larger attack on coal. 

“The Biden administration continues to wage war on coal and affordable, reliable energy by issuing unnecessary regulations intended to drive down electricity production from our nation’s baseload power resources,” she said in a written statement.

Previous standards were set by the Obama administration in 2012. The Trump administration did not attempt to change the substance of those standards, but did weaken their legal justification, making them more vulnerable to court challenges. The Biden administration has recently restored the justification for the Obama-era standards.

The proposal won praise from environmental organizations.

Vickie Patton, general counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund, said in an email that it would “help protect our children and our communities from the toxic smokestack pollution.”

Others, however, called on the agency to go further. 

John Walke, director of the clean air project at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a written statement that the agency “should strengthen these standards even further to protect public health and capture the abilities of modern air pollution controls.”

—Updated at 12:03 p.m.