EPA reinstates mercury limits weakened under Trump

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration Friday restored the legal foundation of an Obama-era regulation governing mercury, a pollutant from power plants that can damage brain development in babies and cause heart disease in adults.

The regulation had been stripped away by the Trump administration. Its revival paves the way for the federal government to set even stricter controls on mercury emissions, something the Environmental Protection Agency under President Joe Biden is expected to do.

“For years, mercury and air toxics standards have protected the health of American communities nationwide, especially children, low-income communities, and communities of color who often and unjustly live near power plants,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said. “This finding ensures the continuation of these critical, lifesaving protections while advancing President Biden’s commitment to making science-based decisions and protecting the health and well-being of all people and all communities.”

Regan did not say if or when the EPA will publish a stronger mercury regulation, although the agency has begun the legal process required for reviewing and updating the current standard.

The regulatory action announced Friday is one in a series of moves by the Biden administration to first restore and then strengthen the many environmental rules that were erased or weakened under President Donald Trump.

While Democrats in Congress last year passed the nation’s first major climate law, the midterm takeover of the House of Representatives by Republicans effectively ensures that no new climate or pollution control legislation will be enacted in the remainder of Biden’s first term. He is instead expected to lean on his executive authority to implement the rest of his climate agenda.