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The Kingston Fossil Plant is a 1.4-gigawatt coal-fired power plant located in Roane County, outside of Kingston, Tenn., on the shore of Watts Bar Lake. It is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Trump administration has exempted the plant from pollution limits set in the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. (Paul Harris / Getty Images)
Update June 12, 2025

Trump’s EPA Said Polluters Could Email Their Way Out of Clean Air Laws. We’re Sending It a Lawsuit.

Sixty-eight coal plants can now release more mercury, arsenic, and other heavy metals known to damage children’s brain development, trigger asthma attacks, and cause cancer.

The 68 coal-fired power plants exempted from mercury and arsenic pollution limits span 23 states. (Source: <a href="https://www.edf.org/maps/epa-pollution-pass/" class="a_color--black">Environmental Defense Fund and Environmental Integrity Project analysis of EPA data</a>)
feature June 12, 2025

Corporations Emailed. Then 68 Power Plants Got a Pass to Pollute.

Using a loophole, the Trump administration exempted coal power plants from mercury and arsenic limits, polluting the air we breathe.

Emissions from a stack at the Mitchell Power Plant, a coal powered plant, in Moundsville, West Virginia. (Lauren Petracca for Earthjustice)
Press Release June 11, 2025

Trump’s EPA Abandons Its Duty to Protect Public from Power Plant Air Pollution

EPA seeks to end limits on mercury and arsenic and climate pollution, increasing harm to communities and reversing progress on climate action

The Cheswick Generating Station operated next door to homes in Springdale, Penn., for more than 50 years until it finally closed in 2022. (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
video June 5, 2025

Two Attacks on Clean Air by the Trump Administration

Attacks on clean air don’t just threaten the environment — they harm our health.

In the News: The New York Times March 27, 2025

E.P.A. Offers a Way to Avoid Clean-Air Rules: Send an Email

Jim Pew, Director of Federal Clean Air Practice, Earthjustice: “It’s hard to imagine how these exemptions could be lawful.”

The Cheswick coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania, reflected in a window of a home in Springdale, is among the hundreds of power plants likely covered by the Mercury & Air Toxics Standards.
(Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
feature April 25, 2024

The Mercury & Air Toxics Standards

When companies burn coal in the U.S., significant amounts of mercury spew into our air. Now, that mercury is controlled, thanks to a federal rule that Earthjustice and our clients fought for, defended, and successfully expanded.

A coal ash pond full of dead trees lies adjacent to Duke Energy's Buck Steam Station in Dukeville, N.C., in 2016. (Chuck Burton / AP)
Press Release: Victory April 25, 2024

Earthjustice Applauds EPA for Historic Suite of Safeguards from Power Plant Pollution

Standards will tackle major sources of climate pollution and protect public health

Press Release April 5, 2023

EPA Moves to Strengthen Protections Against Toxic Power Plant Air Pollution

The proposal strengthens a rule that has prevented between 4,200 and 11,000 premature deaths annually since 2016

Press Release February 17, 2023

EPA Reaffirms Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Will Save Lives

Reducing mercury and air toxins emissions has saved more than 11,000 lives and a stronger standard could prevent even more deaths

Press Release January 31, 2022

EPA Moves to Restore Authority to Limit Power Plants’ Toxic Air Emissions

Strengthened Mercury and Air Toxics Standards is critical for clean air

Press Release January 31, 2022

Agencia Busca Restaurar Autoridad Para Limitar Sustancias Tóxicas Emitidas por Plantas Eléctricas

El fortalecimiento del ‘Estándar de Mercurio y Tóxicos de Aire’ es fundamental para tener aire limpio

“EPA is sentencing entire segments of the population to a poisoned death,” said Caroline Armijo (left) of N.C. Read her story, and those of Nicole Horseherder of Ariz., and Tom Sedor of Penn., in the special report, <a href="//earthjustice.org/lives"><em>Erasing Lives</em></a>.
(From left: Justin Cook for Earthjustice. Darcy Padilla. Chris Knight.)
feature May 13, 2021

Special Report: The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards

Three Americans living near power plants share how they will be harmed by the gutting of the Mercury & Air Toxics Standards.

document June 19, 2020

Petition for Review EPA's rollback of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards

Petition for review of EPA's MATS rollback

Coal-fired power plant
(ansoncfit / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Press Release June 18, 2020

Groups Sue Trump’s EPA Over Rollback of Toxic Emissions Standards

Under the cover of COVID, EPA is putting thousands of lives at risk

Marti Blake watched the Cheswick Generating Station from her home in Springdale, PA.
(Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
Press Release April 16, 2020

Under the Cover of COVID-19, Trump’s EPA OKs More Mercury Air Pollution

EPA is making MATS rule vulnerable to court challenges

Desde su casa, Marti Blake observa la estación generadora de energía de Cheswick en Springdale, Pensilvania.
(Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
Press Release April 15, 2020

Bajo La Sombra Del COVID-19, La Agencia Ambiental De Trump Aprueba Más Contaminación Del Aire Con Mercurio

La EPA está haciendo que la regla MATS no logre enfrentar desafíos judiciales

“EPA is sentencing entire segments of the population to a poisoned death,” said Caroline Armijo (left) of N.C. Read her story, and those of Nicole Horseherder of Ariz., and Tom Sedor of Penn., in the special report, <a href="//earthjustice.org/lives"><em>Erasing Lives</em></a>.
(From left: Justin Cook for Earthjustice. Darcy Padilla. Chris Knight.)
Press Release February 6, 2020

House Hearings Tackle Trump Administration’s Attacks on Protections for Children and Families

Broad coalition of children’s advocates, environmental leaders, faith leaders praise oversight committee for drawing attention to threats

document January 15, 2020

Erasing Lives: The EPA’s Crooked Scheme Could Cause Thousands to Lose Their Lives

On the near 20-year battle to regulate power plants, the strategy underway to overturn the Mercury & Air Toxics Standards, and the backstory of who is driving this fight and benefits.