Congress moves to strip mercury pollution limits from coal power plants
H.R. 3870 — COAL POWER Act · Filed by Troy Downing (R-MT) · 13 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 10, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill repeals an EPA rule issued in May 2024 that set stricter air pollution standards for coal and oil-fired power plants. The rule required utilities to review and reduce emissions of hazardous air pollutants like mercury and arsenic. Repealing it removes those pollution-control requirements, benefiting coal and oil power generators at the expense of public health protections.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative function is to eliminate a specific EPA air-pollution rule. The acronym 'COAL POWER Act' and the full title 'Combating Overregulation And Limitation of Proven, Operable, Working Energy Resources' explicitly frame the repeal as deregulation favoring coal and oil generation.
What the text implies
- Repealing the 2024 rule does not restore the prior standard — it eliminates any federal hazardous-air-pollutant review requirement for coal/oil utilities, creating a regulatory vacuum that may persist until a new rule is issued.
- The rule being repealed was itself a 'residual risk and technology review' — a periodic reassessment required by the Clean Air Act. Repealing it may delay or prevent future reviews, locking in outdated pollution limits.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
coal-fired electric utilities; oil-fired electric utilities; coal mining companies