EPA moves to restore rule about mercury

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reaffirmed the basis for a rule that requires “significant reductions” in mercury and other harmful pollutants from power plants, reversing a move late in former President Donald Trump’s administration to roll back emissions standards.

The EPA said it found it “appropriate and necessary” to regulate emissions of toxic air pollution under the Clean Air Act, setting the stage to restore protections enacted when President Barack Obama’s EPA issued the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

“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 Regan said in a statement

Friday. “This finding ensures the continuation of these critical, life-saving protections while advancing President Biden’s commitment to making science-based decisions and protecting the health and wellbeing of all people and all communities.”

Coal-fired power plants are the largest single man-made source of mercury pollutants, which enter the food chain through fish and other items that people consume. Mercury can affect the nervous system and kidneys; the

World Health Organization says fetuses are especially vulnerable to birth defects via exposure in a mother’s womb.

Public health professionals and environmentalists praised the restoration of the Obama-era rule, saying it protects Americans, especially children, from some of the most dangerous forms of air pollution. But many also said the administration could go further by requiring greater reductions in toxic air pollution from power plants.