Va. congresswoman leads push for EPA to maintain toxic emissions reductions rule

By Shannon Heckt

Seventy-three members of Congress, led by U.S. Reps. Jennifer McClellan, D-VA, and Paul Tonko, D-NY, wrote to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to stop the roll back of Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). 

The proposed rule changes would repeal all greenhouse gas emission standards for the power sector under the Clean Air Act, as well as repeal 2024 amendments to the MATS that some believe led to the retirement of some coal-powered plants across the nation. Virginia currently has three coal-fired power plants in operation in Chesterfield, Halifax, and Wise counties.

The MATS amendments further reduced the amount of mercury, arsenic, nickel, and other toxic emissions from power plants. The plants were expected to invest in technologies to improve operation methods to cut back on those emissions. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump gave more than a third of the country’s coal-fired plants two-year exemptions from the rule.

“Congress gave EPA authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate hazardous air pollutants, like mercury and arsenic from power plants,” the representatives’ letter said. “Rolling back the MATS rule is a cruel abandonment of the agency’s statutory obligations that will endanger children’s health, harm communities, and let the worst industrial polluters off the hook.”

The EPA announced the rule rollback in June and said it would be reset to 2012 standards that the agency believes already significantly reduced emissions. 

“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,” Zeldin said in a June statement.

The representatives are greatly concerned with the severe, disproportionate health effects the toxins have on communities on the fenceline and down-wind of the power plants. Mercury pollution also settles into waterways, impacting  fish that could be consumed by people or animals. The rule amendment aimed to reduce a thousand pounds of mercury emissions.

“Mercury pollution harms infants and children by causing permanent brain damage with long-term harms such as development delays, learning disabilities, and birth defects. Due to environmental injustice, communities of color and low-income communities are more likely to live near coal-fired power plants and be exposed to this dangerous pollution,” the letter read.

The EPA  estimated the rollback of the MATS amendments would save $1.2 billion in regulatory costs for the oil and coal industry over a decade. The agency previously predicted $300 million in health benefits over the same period with the amendments in place, putting industry and human health at odds according to the congressional delegation.

“By rolling back the MATS rule, the Trump Administration is choosing corporate polluters over the health and lives of everyday Americans across the country,” the letter said.

The congressional representative asks the EPA to allow 75 days for public comment and the host multiple hearings on the rule change. They said the current 55 days and one public hearing is not enough to get a full understanding of the impact stemming from the change.

This article first appeared on Virginia Mercury and is republished here with permission. Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence.