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Children's Health at Risk: EPA Standards Challenged
31 Mar
Summary
- Groups sued EPA over repealed coal plant mercury standards.
- Rollbacks risk children's health and vulnerable populations.
- Emissions of sulfur dioxide and mercury rose after exemptions.
A coalition of health and environmental organizations has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The legal action challenges the repeal of federal standards designed to limit mercury and other harmful air pollutants from coal-fired power plants. The groups contend that these regulatory rollbacks endanger children and other vulnerable populations.
Filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the lawsuit targets the Trump administration's February decision to repeal an updated Mercury and Air Toxics Standard. This repealed standard would have significantly reduced allowable mercury pollution by 70% and toxic metal emissions by two-thirds. Additionally, the administration previously granted a two-year exemption from air quality standards to older coal-fired facilities, a move linked by the coalition to an 18% rise in national sulfur dioxide emissions and a 9% increase in neurotoxic mercury emissions.
