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WASHINGTON (CN) — A coalition of environmental groups sued the Trump administration Thursday to block an effort to roll back Biden-era mercury and other toxic air pollution regulations on 68 coal-fired power plants across the country.
In their suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the groups argue that President Donald Trump’s use of a narrow provision meant to exempt plants from such emission standards violates the Clean Air Act.
Led by the Natural Resource Defense Council and including groups like the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity, the coalition says that Trump’s exemption — which would impact nearly one third of all coal-fired power plants — wrongfully exploits Section 7412(i)(4) of the statute.
The groups describe the section as “a narrow and never-before-used provision” that allows a president to exempt certain plants from air pollution standards when technology necessary to comply is “not available” and when an exemption is “in the national security interests” of the United States.
“President Trump violated this limitation by issuing exemptions where the technology is available but where he wishes to relieve sources of their need to expend costs to comply with pollution standards while the administration undertakes proceedings to repeal them,” the groups say in the suit.
Former President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency created the new standards in May 2024 to modernize them for highly toxic pollutants that are emitted by coal-fired power plants.
The rule, known as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for power plants, set higher limits on mercury emissions from plants that burn lignite coal and required plants to continuously monitor their arsenic, nickel and other toxic metal emissions.
Plants were required to begin implementing necessary technology by January 2025 and set a compliance deadline of July 2027 for the emission standards.
“From 2028-2037, the standards were expected to reduce significant quantities of mercury, arsenic, nickel and other toxic metals, delivering cleaner, healthier air and water nationwide from Texas and North Dakota to Pennsylvania and North Carolina,” the groups said. “The president’s exemption proclamation jeopardizes the realization of these public health benefits without any proper basis.”
Trump first indicated the rollback in a March 12 press release, citing concerns about the compliance costs and burdens on the coal industry. At the same time, the EPA announced it was considering a 2-year compliance exemption that would suspend the standards until the EPA completed the rule-making process.
He then invoked the Clean Energy Act provision in a proclamation issued on April 8.
On Wednesday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin issued a proposed rule to repeal certain requirements of the 2024 emissions standard rule, promising $1.2 billion in savings for the power sector over the next decade, starting in 2028, if finalized.
“Affordable, reliable electricity is key to the American dream and a natural byproduct of national energy dominance,” Zeldin said in the announcement. “According to many, the primary purpose of these Biden-Harris administration regulations was to destroy industries that didn’t align with their narrow-minded climate change zealotry. Together, these rules have been criticized as being designed to regulate coal, oil and gas out of existence.”
According to the EPA’s announcement, Trump’s decision would revert emissions standards back to those set in 2012.
The Biden-era rule, the EPA claimed, had caused “significant regulatory uncertainty” for coal plants in Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming.
The rollback is part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to reverse Biden’s efforts to address the rapidly developing climate crisis.
On March 12, Zeldin announced the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history,” which included 31 moves to reconsider numerous climate regulations, including rules for power plants, the oil and gas industry, coal-fired power plants, coal ash programs, and wastewater regulations for coal plants.
Among those, Zeldin highlighted an effort to overturn the EPA’s long-standing conclusion that carbon dioxide pollution endangers human health, the 2009 Endangerment Finding, as well as the “Good Neighbor” rule meant to reduce cross-state pollution.
In a blog post announcing the suit, the Natural Resource Defense Council said the Trump administration granted the exemptions to the 68 coal plants over email, avoiding any public notice or comment regarding the change.
“While the administration claims the exemptions are necessary due to ‘national security interests’ and a ‘lack of available technology,’ the lawsuit charges that pollution controls are not only widely available but also currently being used by nearly all of the exempted power plants and others,” the group said.
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