EPA finalizes emission limits for power plants

Key takeaways:

• This act adds to the growing list of recently finalized standards by the Environmental Protection Agency.
• An American Lung Association representative said the fight for clean air and a stable climate is ongoing.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized standards lowering mercury and toxic metal emissions, as well as carbon pollution from power plants, according to a press release from the agency.

“We’re really grateful that the EPA continues to focus on advancing policies to protect children who live in historically disadvantaged communities that are disproportionately affected by air pollution,” Lauren Zajac, MD, MPH, FAAP, chair of the Council on Environmental Health and Climate Change of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said during a roundtable discussion hosted by the American Lung Association.

As Healio previously reported, the EPA proposed changes to Mercury and Air Toxic Standards for coal-fired and oil-fired power plants last April.

According to the EPA release, the final ruling includes a 67% decrease in the emissions limit for toxic metals from coal-fired power plants and a 70% decrease in the limit for mercury from existing lignite-fired plants.

By 2028, the release says that this ruling is expected to reduce mercury by 1,000 pounds, non-mercury hazardous air pollutant metals by at least seven tons, fine particulate matter by 770 tons, nitrogen oxides by 280 tons and carbon dioxide by 65,000 tons.

In addition to toxic metal and mercury emission limits, another finalized EPA rule orders a 90% reduction in carbon pollution from existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants.

With less carbon pollution from power plants emitted into the air, the EPA projects that in 2035, this rule will prevent:

• up to 1,200 premature deaths;
• 870 hospital and ED visits;
• 1,900 cases of asthma onset;
• 360,000 cases of asthma symptoms;
• 48,000 days marked absent from school; and
• 57,000 lost workdays.

The EPA also finalized two additional rules related to coal-fired power plants, one that lowers pollutants in wastewater from these plants and another that enforces the safe management of coal ash, according to the release.

Notably, all these rulings add to the list of recently finalized standards from the EPA, which includes the change to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particulate pollution, stricter greenhouse gas emission limits for heavy-duty vehicles and stricter limits on emissions for light-duty and medium-duty cars.

Paul Billings

“These rules cap a 6-month period of great progress by U.S. EPA,” Paul Billings, BA, national senior vice president of public policy at the American Lung Association, said during the roundtable discussion.

In response to this finalization, George C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, urged for implementation and public education.

“The efforts that [EPA has] done is really a part of a comprehensive look at all of the sources of pollution in the community,” Benjamin said. “Our task now is not only to implement those, but also educate the public on what they can do to continue to advocate for improved performance by the companies that provide the energy.”

During the roundtable, Billings noted that this EPA effort is a “job well done,” but the fight for cleaner air is ongoing.

“Not only do we work to defend these rules from those that are trying to attack and undermine them, but we [need to] roll up our sleeves and keep working because we can’t rest until everyone is breathing healthy air,” he said. “People of color, low income bear a disproportionate burden of air pollution on the front lines of the worst impacts of climate change.

“If we’re really going to achieve what the Clean Air Act promised us, which is clean and healthy air and a stable climate, we have to keep working to work harder,” Billings continued.

References:

• American Lung Association: New carbon pollution standards for power plants will improve health; 3 in 4 voters support stricter limits on power plant carbon emissions. https://www.lung.org/media/press-releases/2024-carbon-rules-statement. Published April 25, 2024. Accessed April 25, 2024.
• Updated mercury and air toxics standards will improve health, especially for babies, kids and communities living near plants. https://www.lung.org/media/press-releases/2024-mats-statement. Published April 25, 2024. Accessed April 25, 2024.