Swordsmyth
09-01-2020, 02:27 AM
The Trump administration on Monday finalized its weakening of an Obama-era rule aimed at reducing polluted wastewater from coal-burning power plants that has contaminated streams, lakes and underground aquifers
The change will allow utilities to use cheaper technologies and take longer to comply with pollution reduction guidelines that are less stringent than what the agency originally adopted in 2015.
It's the latest in a string of regulatory rollbacks for coal power under Trump — actions that have failed to turn around the industry's decline amid competition from cheap natural gas and renewable energy.
The latest rule change covers requirements for cleaning coal ash and toxic heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic and selenium from plant wastewater before it is dumped into waterways.
Utilities are expected to save $140 million annually under the changes, which Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement would protect industry jobs in part by using a phased-in approach to reducing pollution.
The new rule largely exempts coal plants that will retire or switch to burning natural gas by 2028.
America’s Power, a trade organization that advocates on behalf of coal-fueled electricity, said the rule was good news and that the Obama-era rule could have forced the closure of coal plants needed to keep the power grid reliable.
“We support rules that protect the environment and human health, and we are optimistic the revised rule will not adversely affect the electricity grid," the group said in an emailed statement.
More at: https://news.yahoo.com/trump-administration-finalizes-coal-plant-213850897.html
The change will allow utilities to use cheaper technologies and take longer to comply with pollution reduction guidelines that are less stringent than what the agency originally adopted in 2015.
It's the latest in a string of regulatory rollbacks for coal power under Trump — actions that have failed to turn around the industry's decline amid competition from cheap natural gas and renewable energy.
The latest rule change covers requirements for cleaning coal ash and toxic heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic and selenium from plant wastewater before it is dumped into waterways.
Utilities are expected to save $140 million annually under the changes, which Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement would protect industry jobs in part by using a phased-in approach to reducing pollution.
The new rule largely exempts coal plants that will retire or switch to burning natural gas by 2028.
America’s Power, a trade organization that advocates on behalf of coal-fueled electricity, said the rule was good news and that the Obama-era rule could have forced the closure of coal plants needed to keep the power grid reliable.
“We support rules that protect the environment and human health, and we are optimistic the revised rule will not adversely affect the electricity grid," the group said in an emailed statement.
More at: https://news.yahoo.com/trump-administration-finalizes-coal-plant-213850897.html