Trump exempts nearly 70 coal plants from Biden-era rule on mercury and other toxic air pollution

The Colstrip Steam Electric Station in Colstrip, Mont., is photographed Sept. 30, 2014. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has granted nearly 70 coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene.

A list quietly posted as of Tuesday on the Environmental Protection Agency’s website lists 47 power providers — which operate at least 66 coal-fired plants — that are receiving exemptions from the Biden-era rules under the Clean Air Act, including a regulation limiting air pollution from mercury and other toxins. The actions follow an executive order last week by President Donald Trump aimed at boosting the struggling coal industry, a reliable but polluting energy source that’s long been in decline.

Among plants receiving exemptions is the Colstrip Generating Station, a massive power plant in Colstrip, Montana, that emits more toxic air pollutants such as lead and arsenic than any other U.S. facility of its kind, according to the EPA. Other plants with exemptions include Coal Creek Station, a large power plant in North Dakota that is among the nation’s top producers of mercury emissions, and the Oak Grove plant in Texas, another large polluter.

The exempted plants are owned by some of the nation’s largest power companies, including Talen Energy, Dominion Energy, NRG Energy and Southern Co.

The exemptions also apply to four plants operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public utility.

The EPA said in a statement Tuesday that the presidential exemptions “will bolster coal-fired electricity generation, ensuring that our nation’s grid is reliable, that electricity is affordable for the American people, and that EPA is helping to promote our nation’s energy security.”

Michelle Bloodworth, president of a lobbying group for coal-fired plants, said Trump recognizes that the nation’s coal fleet is “essential to maintaining a healthy and secure electricity supply – the backbone of our economy."

Rules imposed under former President Joe Biden “were inconsistent with the Clean Air Act and based on an improper analysis of data,” she said.

The mercury rule, finalized last year, could have contributed to the premature retirement of dozens of coal units, Bloodworth said, adding that the plants are needed to support reliability of the electric grid.

Environmentalists called the exemptions — which require a presidential finding that technology required to meet the new rules is not widely available and that continued activity of the plants advances national security — a dereliction of duty by Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.

“These passes to pollute carve a ragged hole through the heart of federal protections for the air we breathe,” said Maya Golden-Krasner, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. “To suggest that it’s a matter of national security to force people from Montana to Alabama to inhale more neurotoxins is offensive. This is what it looks like to put polluter profits ahead of the wellbeing of Americans and the planet.”

Environmental groups and public health advocates have denounced the administration’s plan to grant exemptions, which they say could allow hundreds of companies to evade laws meant to protect the environment and public health.

Critics call the new email address set up by the EPA to request the exemptions a “polluters’ portal.”

Exemptions can be given for nine EPA rules, including limits on mercury, ethylene oxide and other hazardous air pollutants. Mercury exposure can cause brain damage, especially in children, and birth defects can occur after exposure in a mother’s womb.

Last week, in a series of executive orders, Trump used his emergency authority to allow some older coal-fired power plants set for retirement to keep producing electricity to meet rising U.S. power demand amid growth in data centers, artificial intelligence and electric cars. Trump also directed federal agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining and prioritize coal leasing on U.S. lands.

Trump, a Republican, has long promised to boost what he calls “beautiful” coal to fire power plants and for other uses.

Matthew Daly, The Associated Press