ARCHITECT’s Katharine Keane reports that the Trump Administration is targeting Obama-era chemical regulations with a recent proposal to revise the 2011 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule that helped to reduce mercury pollution from fossil fuel power stations.
According to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) release, the administration hopes to prove that “it is not “appropriate and necessary” to regulate hazardous air pollutant emissions from power plants” because of the cost benefits associated with the regulations under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act.
As the Associated Press notes, “Mercury causes brain damage, learning disabilities and other birth defects in children, among other harm. Coal power plants in this country are the largest single man-made source of mercury pollutants, which enters the food chain through fish and other items that people consume.” [EPA]
