A coalition of health and environmental advocates launched legal action Monday against the Environmental Protection Agency, challenging the agency’s decision to eliminate mercury pollution controls for coal-burning power facilities.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, involves several prominent organizations including Earthjustice, the American Lung Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The legal challenge targets the EPA’s February decision to reverse the Biden administration’s 2024 strengthening of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, the now-eliminated update would have cut mercury pollution from coal facilities by 70 percent and reduced emissions of toxic metals like nickel, arsenic, and lead by two-thirds. The standards were projected to prevent $420 million in health-related costs through 2037.
The current administration also granted two-year exemptions from air quality requirements for older coal plants last year, which the coalition says allowed major polluting facilities to avoid compliance. Following these exemptions, the groups report that sulfur dioxide emissions increased 18 percent nationwide, while neurotoxic mercury emissions rose 9 percent.
In their statement, the coalition expressed concern about broader regulatory changes: “This administration is not just rolling back rules, it is eliminating the monitoring infrastructure needed to know what is coming out of these smokestacks in the first place. It is allowing coal plants to spew out more neurotoxic mercury into our air and food supply, while simultaneously keeping the communities most at risk in the dark about how serious that threat is.”
The legal action represents the latest effort by environmental and public health advocates to challenge federal policy changes they argue threaten air quality and public safety.
