Trump EPA proposes rolling back limits on toxic coal wastewater

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed Thursday to roll back limits that require coal-fired power plants to prevent toxic heavy metals from reaching streams and rivers through groundwater. The EPA said the rule finalized in 2024 under President Joe Biden is unduly costly for the industry and has been ineffective, while arguing that electricity demand is rising sharply.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the proposal is critical for making electricity “more affordable and reliable,” while advancing the economy, in remarks tied to the growing power needs for artificial intelligence data centers. In a statement, Zeldin said, “The AI and data center revolution is creating an electricity and baseload power demand that cannot be met under the overly restrictive policies of past administrations,” and that “The Trump EPA will continue doing its part to address these burdensome regulations on the coal-fired power plant sector that hold American communities back from the new opportunities presented by this new 21st century energy reality.”

Under the 2024 rule, the EPA strengthened wastewater requirements for coal-fired power plants that keep coal ash—a byproduct of burning coal—in unlined, uncovered dumps that leach toxic heavy metals into groundwater. The agency said those heavy metals include mercury, arsenic and selenium, which can then reach waterways.

The 2024 rule also required plant owners to report whether groundwater was contaminated and, if so, pump and treat the contaminated groundwater before discharging it into streams and rivers, according to Thom Cmar, an attorney for the environmental advocacy group Earthjustice. The EPA had initially set a compliance timeline under the 2024 rule, giving power plant owners until Dec. 31, 2029, to meet the new limits.

In its new proposal, the EPA said the change would reduce power generation costs by as much as $1.1 billion a year if finalized. The agency said the proposal is designed to reflect what it characterized as misjudgments in the 2024 rule’s effectiveness and cost, and it linked the effort to rising energy demand.

Industry groups representing coal and power businesses responded positively to the proposal. Environmental groups, including Earthjustice, said the EPA’s approach would create a public health danger by weakening safeguards for contaminated wastewater from coal ash management sites.

Earthjustice said the proposed rule would exempt contaminated groundwater seeping into waterways from mandatory treatment requirements, and that owners would only be required to treat contaminated groundwater if they were already pumping it to the surface under the 2024 rule. Cmar said that even if contaminated water reaches surface waters, states could try to pursue enforcement through federal clean water laws, but he argued many states are reluctant to use that tool because it can slow permitting and oversight.

Cmar described the practical issue as a gap between state authority and state willingness to intervene. “The problem is, at the state level, many states are reluctant to use that tool that they all have to hold up the permitting process and force the companies to do an adequate job of documenting and limiting the pollution,” he said.

The EPA said it identified dozens of coal-fired power plants—“likely up to 104”—as polluting groundwater through uncontrolled runoff. It said seven plants were complying with the 2024 rule by pumping and treating contaminated groundwater.

The EPA’s own cost-benefit estimates for the 2024 rule projected reductions in pollutant discharges of between 660 million and 672 million pounds per year, alongside public health benefits estimated at $3.2 billion each year. The agency said the rule especially benefited low-income communities and communities of color that it said were disproportionately impacted by pollution from coal-fired power plants, and it projected that electricity bills for an average residential household would rise by less than $3.50 per year.

Earthjustice said the proposed rollback would eliminate safeguards on hundreds of millions of pounds of wastewater containing neurotoxins and cancer-causing contaminants. Cmar said it would allow coal plants to avoid cleaning up contamination that threatens drinking-water sources.