Health, environmental groups sue EPA for rollback of mercury rule

Source: msn/Reuters

11h


WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - A coalition of health and environmental groups on Monday sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for repealing federal standards for coal-fired power plants that limited mercury and other harmful air pollutants, saying that the rollbacks put children and vulnerable people at risk.

Here are some details:

• The coalition of groups, which includes Earthjustice, the American Lung Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the American Academy of Pediatrics, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

• In February, the Trump administration's EPA repealed the 2024 update by the Biden administration of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard, which would have reduced allowable mercury pollution from coal plants by 70%, emissions of nickel, arsenic, lead and other toxic metals by two-thirds and would have saved an estimated $420 million in health costs through 2037, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.