The EPA is expected today to finalize a proposal to ax the legal basis for mercury pollution limits from power plants.
- The rule would maintain Obama-era limits on mercury and other toxic air pollutants, also known as MATS. Those limits affect mostly coal-fired power plants, nearly all of which have met the standards after spending millions of dollars to install controls.
- But the latest rule would withdraw the cost-benefit analysis that the Obama administration used in 2012 to justify the imposition of those limits—citing the health benefits of limiting mercury pollution. The EPA under the Trump administration has said the...