Overview
- The final rule rescinds the 2024 MATS updates, ending tighter limits and continuous emissions monitoring, and returns power plants to the original 2012 framework.
- For lignite-fired units, the mercury limit reverts to 4 lb/TBtu—more than triple the 1.2 lb/TBtu cap for other coal plants—affecting roughly 10 units mainly in North Dakota and Texas.
- EPA estimates about $670 million in avoided costs and says the change will help preserve baseload reliability as electricity demand rises with new data centers.
- Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi unveiled the decision at LG&E’s Mill Creek Generating Station in Louisville, Kentucky.
- Environmental and public-health groups warn the rollback will increase mercury and other hazardous air pollutants, endangering children and nearby communities, and they plan to sue, noting 68 plants previously received two-year exemptions.