Latest news with #MATS
Axios
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Axios
EPA launches repeal of Obama and Biden-era power plant rules
The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed repealing rules regulating carbon dioxide emissions and rolling back mercury and hazardous air pollutants from power plants. Why it matters: The Environmental Protection Agency's action is the most significant under President Trump to tear down Democratic administrations' climate regulations. The proposals now go to public comment and ultimately will face legal challenges. Driving the news: EPA wants to repeal the 2015 emissions standards for new fossil fuel-fired power plants issued during the Obama administration as well as the Biden administration's 2024 rule for new and existing fossil fuel-fired power plants. The CO2 and mercury rules were designed to regulate coal, natural gas and oil "out of existence," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said during a news conference. A cycle of speakers at the EPA press event — mostly Republican members of Congress — lamented the closure of coal-fired power and called it a threat to the reliability country's power grid. The Navajo Generating Station — a coal-fired plant in Arizona that closed in 2019 — "was the most efficient power plant in the country, and sadly we had to tear it down," Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said. Between the lines: Zeldin deflected questions about legal vulnerability of the rule. He emphasized EPA wasn't seeking to repeal the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS), which govern emissions for mercury and other air pollutants emitted by units with a capacity of more than 25 megawatts. "What a final rule will look like is a decision to be made in the future," Zeldin said. The other side: "The Trump administration's subservience to its fossil fuel megadonors is on full display," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's top Democrat, said in a statement.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EPA proposes rolling back clean air rules for power plants: What to know
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, joined by several Republican lawmakers, announced on Wednesday the agency's plan to repeal two landmark power plant emission regulations. During a press conference at EPA headquarters, Zeldin called it "a historic day at the EPA" and said the agency's actions were designed to "both protect the environment and grow the economy." "We are proposing to repeal Obama and Biden rules that have been criticized as regulating coal, oil and gas out of existence—from the so-called Clean Power Plan to the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS," said Zeldin. "Together, if finalized, these actions would result in saving over a billion dollars per year," he said. MORE: Transport of mercury through rivers has risen threefold since Industrial Revolution, new study finds The first rule being targeted by the EPA focuses on carbon emissions, requiring existing coal-fired and new natural gas plants to cut 90% of their carbon pollution using technologies like carbon capture. The second rule strengthened the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), tightening limits on hazardous metals such as mercury from lignite coal-fired power plants. Both rules were part of a broader EPA effort finalized last April to reduce pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants. Zeldin said the EPA will decide if fossil fuel power plants are significant contributors of greenhouse gas emissions and if those emissions are dangerous to public health or the environment, key determinations for rolling back the regulations under the Clean Air Act. Existing coal-fired power plants are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, according to the EPA, and new natural gas-fired combustion turbines are some of the largest new sources of these emissions being built today. Zeldin said he is not prejudging a decision on the environmental and health impacts of fossil fuel power plants and that the repeal is still a proposal and yet to be finalized. Zeldin said the public will have an opportunity to comment on the changes. "We're not eliminating MATS. We're proposing to revise it to remove the gratuitous requirements added by the Biden administration in 2024," said Zeldin. MORE: Trump's policies could impact the environment long after he leaves office, some experts say He added that "If finalized, no power plant will be allowed to emit more than they do today or as much as they did one or two years ago." Zeldin announced in March that the EPA would reconsider the regulations on power plants put in place by the previous administration, citing that the previous administration did not have the legal authority to enact the rules in the first place. In a statement to ABC News, Gina McCarthy, a former EPA administrator and White House national climate advisor during the Biden administration, wrote "The key rationale Zeldin is using to justify the dismantling of our nation's protections from power plant pollution is absolutely illogical and indefensible." She added, "It's a purely political play that goes against decades of science and policy review. By giving a green light to more pollution, his legacy will forever be someone who does the bidding of the fossil fuel industry at the expense of our health." MORE: These are the impacts some scientists fear most from EPA deregulation The current rules require existing coal-fired power plants and new natural gas plants to control 90% of their carbon pollution through technologies like carbon capture. An administration regulatory impact analysis conducted during the Biden Administration found that by 2047, this new standard will avoid 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution, the equivalent of 328 million gas-powered cars' annual emissions. They also strengthen Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for coal-fired plants by tightening the emissions standard for toxic metals by 67% and requiring a 70% reduction in the mercury emissions standard specifically from lignite coal-fired power plants. By 2028, the EPA estimates the new rule will result in 1,000 pounds of mercury emissions reductions in addition to seven tons of other hazardous air pollutant emissions, 770 tons of fine particulate matter pollution and others. The EPA is proposing the repeal of the 2015 and 2024 emissions standards for new and existing fossil-fuel powered plants including rules that govern CO2, mercury and air toxins emissions. The Sierra Club estimates that these changes would allow some power plants to release nearly seven times as much CO2 as they currently put into the atmosphere. The EPA says the changes would lower electricity costs for consumers and increase the supply of energy. MORE: EPA takes aim at water, air and toxics protections as part of massive deregulation campaign Environmental organizations nationwide were quick to express their concerns about the Trump administration's proposal. They've told ABC News that they plan to sue the administration to stop any rollbacks of the pollution standards. In a statement to ABC News, Ryan Maher, an environmental health attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity said, "They had to fire hundreds of scientists to advance these destructive policies because they know the facts are indisputable. If these reckless rollbacks are allowed to stand they'll only fan the flames of extreme heat and wildfires, and they'll trigger more child deaths, more cancers, more lung diseases and more heart attacks." The Sierra Club's climate policy director, Patrick Drupp, wrote in a statement to ABC News, "It's completely reprehensible that Donald Trump would seek to roll back these lifesaving standards and do more harm to the American people and our planet just to earn some brownie points with the fossil fuel industry. This repeal means more climate disasters, more heart attacks, more asthma attacks, more birth defects, more premature deaths." "In repealing the carbon standards, Administrator Zeldin is flagrantly disregarding incontrovertible evidence and long-standing precedent, intentionally sidelining EPA from the climate fight and letting fossil fuel companies freely pollute," Julie McNamara, associate director of policy for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote in a statement to ABC News. "There's no meaningful path to meet U.S. climate goals without addressing carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants—and there's no meaningful path to meet global climate goals without the United States. This repeal would condemn people across the country and around the world to a future of worsening climate impacts and devastating costs." Power plants will not be able to admit any more emissions than they are currently allowed to under the new proposals, an EPA spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News on Thursday. "Unlike other air pollutants with a regional or local impact, greenhouse gas emissions are global in nature. As a result, any potential public health harms have not been accurately attributed to emissions from the U.S. power sector," the EPA spokesperson said. "In light of this, EPA is proposing that the Clean Air Act requires the agency to make a finding that the targeted emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants significantly contribute to dangerous air pollution before regulating these emissions from this source category." In response to opposition from environmental groups, the EPA spokesperson said, "many of those same groups were ecstatic when the Obama administration implemented the 2012 MATS rule." "Unlike the previous administration that tried to ram through regulations to destroy industries that didn't align with their narrow-minded climate change zealotry, the Trump EPA is committed to EPA's core mission of protecting human health and the environment," the spokesperson said. MORE: These are the biggest 'anti-environment' policies enacted in Trump's 1st 100 days, according to experts In August 2015, the EPA established the first nationwide limits on greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants under a rule known as the "Clean Power Plan." This initiative aimed to position the U.S. as a leader in addressing climate change and to help fulfill international commitments to reduce carbon pollution. The rule required each state to submit a plan to the EPA outlining how it would meet the specified emission reduction targets for its power sector. However, in 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to stay the EPA's Clean Power Plan. The order responded to a request from several states, utilities, and other industry groups asking the high court to put the rule on hold while legal challenges were decided in a lower court. On March 28, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan final rule and eliminate other federal initiatives addressing climate change. Then in June 2019, the EPA adoped the "Affordable Clean Energy" (ACE) rule to replace the Clean Power Plan. This was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Jan. 19, 2021. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Clean Power Plan, ruling that the EPA lacked authority under section 111 of the federal Clean Air Act to require existing power plants to shift generation from more polluting sources to less polluting sources as it had done in the Clean Power Plan. In response, the Biden administration EPA announced a suite of final rules to reduce pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants to protect communities from pollution and improve public health in 2024. After President Trump began his second term, Zeldin announced the EPA would reconsider the regulations on power plants put in place by the previous administration, citing that the prior administration did not have the legal authority to enact the rules in the first place. ABC News' Julia Jacobo contirbuted to this report. EPA proposes rolling back clean air rules for power plants: What to know originally appeared on
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EPA proposes rolling back clean air rules for power plants: What to know
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, joined by several Republican lawmakers, announced on Wednesday the agency's plan to repeal two landmark power plant emission regulations. During a press conference at EPA headquarters, Zeldin called it "a historic day at the EPA" and said the agency's actions were designed to "both protect the environment and grow the economy." "We are proposing to repeal Obama and Biden rules that have been criticized as regulating coal, oil and gas out of existence—from the so-called Clean Power Plan to the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS," said Zeldin. "Together, if finalized, these actions would result in saving over a billion dollars per year," he said. MORE: Transport of mercury through rivers has risen threefold since Industrial Revolution, new study finds The first rule being targeted by the EPA focuses on carbon emissions, requiring existing coal-fired and new natural gas plants to cut 90% of their carbon pollution using technologies like carbon capture. The second rule strengthened the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), tightening limits on hazardous metals such as mercury from lignite coal-fired power plants. Both rules were part of a broader EPA effort finalized last April to reduce pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants. Zeldin said the EPA will decide if fossil fuel power plants are significant contributors of greenhouse gas emissions and if those emissions are dangerous to public health or the environment, key determinations for rolling back the regulations under the Clean Air Act. Existing coal-fired power plants are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, according to the EPA, and new natural gas-fired combustion turbines are some of the largest new sources of these emissions being built today. Zeldin said he is not prejudging a decision on the environmental and health impacts of fossil fuel power plants and that the repeal is still a proposal and yet to be finalized. Zeldin said the public will have an opportunity to comment on the changes. "We're not eliminating MATS. We're proposing to revise it to remove the gratuitous requirements added by the Biden administration in 2024," said Zeldin. MORE: Trump's policies could impact the environment long after he leaves office, some experts say He added that "If finalized, no power plant will be allowed to emit more than they do today or as much as they did one or two years ago." Zeldin announced in March that the EPA would reconsider the regulations on power plants put in place by the previous administration, citing that the previous administration did not have the legal authority to enact the rules in the first place. In a statement to ABC News, Gina McCarthy, a former EPA administrator and White House national climate advisor during the Biden administration, wrote "The key rationale Zeldin is using to justify the dismantling of our nation's protections from power plant pollution is absolutely illogical and indefensible." She added, "It's a purely political play that goes against decades of science and policy review. By giving a green light to more pollution, his legacy will forever be someone who does the bidding of the fossil fuel industry at the expense of our health." MORE: These are the impacts some scientists fear most from EPA deregulation The current rules require existing coal-fired power plants and new natural gas plants to control 90% of their carbon pollution through technologies like carbon capture. An administration regulatory impact analysis conducted during the Biden Administration found that by 2047, this new standard will avoid 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution, the equivalent of 328 million gas-powered cars' annual emissions. They also strengthen Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for coal-fired plants by tightening the emissions standard for toxic metals by 67% and requiring a 70% reduction in the mercury emissions standard specifically from lignite coal-fired power plants. By 2028, the EPA estimates the new rule will result in 1,000 pounds of mercury emissions reductions in addition to seven tons of other hazardous air pollutant emissions, 770 tons of fine particulate matter pollution and others. The EPA is proposing the repeal of the 2015 and 2024 emissions standards for new and existing fossil-fuel powered plants including rules that govern CO2, mercury and air toxins emissions. The Sierra Club estimates that these changes would allow some power plants to release nearly seven times as much CO2 as they currently put into the atmosphere. The EPA says the changes would lower electricity costs for consumers and increase the supply of energy. MORE: EPA takes aim at water, air and toxics protections as part of massive deregulation campaign Environmental organizations nationwide were quick to express their concerns about the Trump administration's proposal. They've told ABC News that they plan to sue the administration to stop any rollbacks of the pollution standards. In a statement to ABC News, Ryan Maher, an environmental health attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity said, "They had to fire hundreds of scientists to advance these destructive policies because they know the facts are indisputable. If these reckless rollbacks are allowed to stand they'll only fan the flames of extreme heat and wildfires, and they'll trigger more child deaths, more cancers, more lung diseases and more heart attacks." The Sierra Club's climate policy director, Patrick Drupp, wrote in a statement to ABC News, "It's completely reprehensible that Donald Trump would seek to roll back these lifesaving standards and do more harm to the American people and our planet just to earn some brownie points with the fossil fuel industry. This repeal means more climate disasters, more heart attacks, more asthma attacks, more birth defects, more premature deaths." "In repealing the carbon standards, Administrator Zeldin is flagrantly disregarding incontrovertible evidence and long-standing precedent, intentionally sidelining EPA from the climate fight and letting fossil fuel companies freely pollute," Julie McNamara, associate director of policy for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote in a statement to ABC News. "There's no meaningful path to meet U.S. climate goals without addressing carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants—and there's no meaningful path to meet global climate goals without the United States. This repeal would condemn people across the country and around the world to a future of worsening climate impacts and devastating costs." Power plants will not be able to admit any more emissions than they are currently allowed to under the new proposals, an EPA spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News on Thursday. "Unlike other air pollutants with a regional or local impact, greenhouse gas emissions are global in nature. As a result, any potential public health harms have not been accurately attributed to emissions from the U.S. power sector," the EPA spokesperson said. "In light of this, EPA is proposing that the Clean Air Act requires the agency to make a finding that the targeted emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants significantly contribute to dangerous air pollution before regulating these emissions from this source category." In response to opposition from environmental groups, the EPA spokesperson said, "many of those same groups were ecstatic when the Obama administration implemented the 2012 MATS rule." "Unlike the previous administration that tried to ram through regulations to destroy industries that didn't align with their narrow-minded climate change zealotry, the Trump EPA is committed to EPA's core mission of protecting human health and the environment," the spokesperson said. MORE: These are the biggest 'anti-environment' policies enacted in Trump's 1st 100 days, according to experts In August 2015, the EPA established the first nationwide limits on greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants under a rule known as the "Clean Power Plan." This initiative aimed to position the U.S. as a leader in addressing climate change and to help fulfill international commitments to reduce carbon pollution. The rule required each state to submit a plan to the EPA outlining how it would meet the specified emission reduction targets for its power sector. However, in 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to stay the EPA's Clean Power Plan. The order responded to a request from several states, utilities, and other industry groups asking the high court to put the rule on hold while legal challenges were decided in a lower court. On March 28, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan final rule and eliminate other federal initiatives addressing climate change. Then in June 2019, the EPA adoped the "Affordable Clean Energy" (ACE) rule to replace the Clean Power Plan. This was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Jan. 19, 2021. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Clean Power Plan, ruling that the EPA lacked authority under section 111 of the federal Clean Air Act to require existing power plants to shift generation from more polluting sources to less polluting sources as it had done in the Clean Power Plan. In response, the Biden administration EPA announced a suite of final rules to reduce pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants to protect communities from pollution and improve public health in 2024. After President Trump began his second term, Zeldin announced the EPA would reconsider the regulations on power plants put in place by the previous administration, citing that the prior administration did not have the legal authority to enact the rules in the first place. ABC News' Julia Jacobo contirbuted to this report. EPA proposes rolling back clean air rules for power plants: What to know originally appeared on
12-06-2025
- Business
EPA proposes rolling back clean air rules for power plants: What to know
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, joined by several Republican lawmakers, announced on Wednesday the agency's plan to repeal two landmark power plant emission regulations. During a press conference at EPA headquarters, Zeldin called it "a historic day at the EPA" and said the agency's actions were designed to "both protect the environment and grow the economy." "We are proposing to repeal Obama and Biden rules that have been criticized as regulating coal, oil and gas out of existence—from the so-called Clean Power Plan to the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS," said Zeldin. "Together, if finalized, these actions would result in saving over a billion dollars per year," he said. The first rule being targeted by the EPA focuses on carbon emissions, requiring existing coal-fired and new natural gas plants to cut 90% of their carbon pollution using technologies like carbon capture. The second rule strengthened the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), tightening limits on hazardous metals such as mercury from lignite coal-fired power plants. Both rules were part of a broader EPA effort finalized last April to reduce pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants. Zeldin said the EPA will decide if fossil fuel power plants are significant contributors of greenhouse gas emissions and if those emissions are dangerous to public health or the environment, key determinations for rolling back the regulations under the Clean Air Act. Existing coal-fired power plants are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, according to the EPA, and new natural gas-fired combustion turbines are some of the largest new sources of these emissions being built today. Zeldin said he is not prejudging a decision on the environmental and health impacts of fossil fuel power plants and that the repeal is still a proposal and yet to be finalized. Zeldin said the public will have an opportunity to comment on the changes. "We're not eliminating MATS. We're proposing to revise it to remove the gratuitous requirements added by the Biden administration in 2024," said Zeldin. He added that "If finalized, no power plant will be allowed to emit more than they do today or as much as they did one or two years ago." Zeldin announced in March that the EPA would reconsider the regulations on power plants put in place by the previous administration, citing that the previous administration did not have the legal authority to enact the rules in the first place. In a statement to ABC News, Gina McCarthy, a former EPA administrator and White House national climate advisor during the Biden administration, wrote "The key rationale Zeldin is using to justify the dismantling of our nation's protections from power plant pollution is absolutely illogical and indefensible." She added, "It's a purely political play that goes against decades of science and policy review. By giving a green light to more pollution, his legacy will forever be someone who does the bidding of the fossil fuel industry at the expense of our health." What do the current EPA emissions rules do? The current rules require existing coal-fired power plants and new natural gas plants to control 90% of their carbon pollution through technologies like carbon capture. An administration regulatory impact analysis conducted during the Biden Administration found that by 2047, this new standard will avoid 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution, the equivalent of 328 million gas-powered cars' annual emissions. They also strengthen Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for coal-fired plants by tightening the emissions standard for toxic metals by 67% and requiring a 70% reduction in the mercury emissions standard specifically from lignite coal-fired power plants. By 2028, the EPA estimates the new rule will result in 1,000 pounds of mercury emissions reductions in addition to seven tons of other hazardous air pollutant emissions, 770 tons of fine particulate matter pollution and others. What would change if the power plant regulations are rolled back? The EPA is proposing the repeal of the 2015 and 2024 emissions standards for new and existing fossil-fuel powered plants including rules that govern CO2, mercury and air toxins emissions. The Sierra Club estimates that these changes would allow some power plants to release nearly seven times as much CO2 as they currently put into the atmosphere. The EPA says the changes would lower electricity costs for consumers and increase the supply of energy. The impacts of power plant pollution Environmental organizations nationwide were quick to express their concerns about the Trump administration's proposal. They've told ABC News that they plan to sue the administration to stop any rollbacks of the pollution standards. In a statement to ABC News, Ryan Maher, an environmental health attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity said, "They had to fire hundreds of scientists to advance these destructive policies because they know the facts are indisputable. If these reckless rollbacks are allowed to stand they'll only fan the flames of extreme heat and wildfires, and they'll trigger more child deaths, more cancers, more lung diseases and more heart attacks." The Sierra Club's climate policy director, Patrick Drupp, wrote in a statement to ABC News, "It's completely reprehensible that Donald Trump would seek to roll back these lifesaving standards and do more harm to the American people and our planet just to earn some brownie points with the fossil fuel industry. This repeal means more climate disasters, more heart attacks, more asthma attacks, more birth defects, more premature deaths." "In repealing the carbon standards, Administrator Zeldin is flagrantly disregarding incontrovertible evidence and long-standing precedent, intentionally sidelining EPA from the climate fight and letting fossil fuel companies freely pollute," Julie McNamara, associate director of policy for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote in a statement to ABC News. "There's no meaningful path to meet U.S. climate goals without addressing carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants—and there's no meaningful path to meet global climate goals without the United States. This repeal would condemn people across the country and around the world to a future of worsening climate impacts and devastating costs." Power plants will not be able to admit any more emissions than they are currently allowed to under the new proposals, an EPA spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News on Thursday. "Unlike other air pollutants with a regional or local impact, greenhouse gas emissions are global in nature. As a result, any potential public health harms have not been accurately attributed to emissions from the U.S. power sector," the EPA spokesperson said. "In light of this, EPA is proposing that the Clean Air Act requires the agency to make a finding that the targeted emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants significantly contribute to dangerous air pollution before regulating these emissions from this source category." In response to opposition from environmental groups, the EPA spokesperson said, "many of those same groups were ecstatic when the Obama administration implemented the 2012 MATS rule." "Unlike the previous administration that tried to ram through regulations to destroy industries that didn't align with their narrow-minded climate change zealotry, the Trump EPA is committed to EPA's core mission of protecting human health and the environment," the spokesperson said. Decade-long process In August 2015, the EPA established the first nationwide limits on greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants under a rule known as the "Clean Power Plan." This initiative aimed to position the U.S. as a leader in addressing climate change and to help fulfill international commitments to reduce carbon pollution. The rule required each state to submit a plan to the EPA outlining how it would meet the specified emission reduction targets for its power sector. However, in 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to stay the EPA's Clean Power Plan. The order responded to a request from several states, utilities, and other industry groups asking the high court to put the rule on hold while legal challenges were decided in a lower court. On March 28, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan final rule and eliminate other federal initiatives addressing climate change. Then in June 2019, the EPA adoped the "Affordable Clean Energy" (ACE) rule to replace the Clean Power Plan. This was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Jan. 19, 2021. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Clean Power Plan, ruling that the EPA lacked authority under section 111 of the federal Clean Air Act to require existing power plants to shift generation from more polluting sources to less polluting sources as it had done in the Clean Power Plan. In response, the Biden administration EPA announced a suite of final rules to reduce pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants to protect communities from pollution and improve public health in 2024. After President Trump began his second term, Zeldin announced the EPA would reconsider the regulations on power plants put in place by the previous administration, citing that the prior administration did not have the legal authority to enact the rules in the first place.
11-06-2025
- Science
Transport of mercury through rivers has risen threefold since Industrial Revolution, new study finds
Human activity has caused the amount of mercury being transported through rivers all over the world to increase up to threefold since the Industrial Revolution, making regulations to prevent toxic metals from entering waterways even more necessary, according to environmental policy experts. Industrial practices such as coal combustion, mining and manufacturing have increased mercury pollution and changed the way it moves through rivers, causing a sharp rise in mercury concentrations around the world since the 1850s, according to a paper published Wednesday in the journal Science. Scientists pay especially close attention to neurotoxins like mercury due to its ability to accumulate in fish and rivers, Yanxu Zhang, an associate professor at Tulane University's School of Science and Engineering and co-author of the study, told ABC News. Researchers used process-based models to reconstruct the amount of mercury emissions that would have existed in waterways naturally from events such as volcanic activity or wildfires, Zhang said. They found that between 1845 and 1859, the average baseline river cycle was roughly 390 megagrams of mercury per year. Today, rivers carry about 1,000 megagrams per year -- equating in about a 585 megagram per year increase in the last two centuries. The researchers also corroborated this finding with global historic sediment cores, according to the study. The findings of the report are "not at all surprising," John Holdren, a professor of environmental science and policy and former science adviser to President Barack Obama, told ABC News. "It just adds one more data point to the clear evidence that many human environmental impacts far exceed the scale of natural influences," Holdren said. The presence of mercury then poses a health risk to people living nearby -- especially in developing regions in South America, Southeast Asia and Africa, Zhang said. But proposed rollbacks on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations that tightened emissions standards for toxic metals like mercury could soon put Americans at risk of increased mercury levels in U.S. waterways, according to environmental policy experts. Earlier this year, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a massive deregulation campaign, rolling out more than two dozen policy announcements to propose changes on several emissions regulations. The actions included revisions to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which set limits on mercury and arsenic pollution from coal and oil power plants -- rules the EPA described in a press release in March as "overreaching." During a press conference on Wednesday, Zeldin said that if the proposed changes to MATS are finalized, "no power plant will be allowed to emit more than they do today -- or as much as they did one or two years ago." "These decisions allow more mercury into the air and water, even though mercury is known to harm children's brain development, and arsenic is linked to cancer and birth defects," James Pew, director of federal clean air practice at Earthjustice, told ABC News. In March, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a requirement from the Clean Water Act that forced polluters to comply with water quality standards as a condition of their permits. Last month, the House of Representatives voted to allow about 1,800 facilities -- including chemical plants, refineries and pesticide manufacturers -- to "reclassify" themselves as minor polluters and stop controlling, monitoring or reporting toxic emissions under the Congressional Review Act. The vote passed 216 to 212, with all Democrats and one Republican opposing it. The Senate had approved the resolution weeks earlier. "All of Donald Trump's actions since taking office are taking us backwards on mercury pollution and threatening our health," Sierra Club Climate Policy Director Patrick Drupp told ABC News. Mercury -- along with other heavy metals, such as lead -- is one of the "clearest" cases of public health knowledge that has been translated into environmental standards in the U.S. over the last 50 years, Dan Esty, a professor of environmental law and policy at Yale University and former commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, told ABC News. The report is "another reminder of the massive irresponsibility of the EPA's headlong retreat, under President Trump and EPA Administrator Zeldin, from science-based approaches to protecting public health from environmental harms of all kinds," Holdren -- the environmental science professor -- said. Mercury is toxic to both animals and people in a number of ways, necessitating effective controls to keep people from being harmed, Paul Anastas, director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale University and former assistant administrator for the EPA, told ABC News. "It's always foolish to ignore mercury," Anastas said. "...If you're not afraid of mercury, you're not paying attention." Exposure to mercury typically occurs from eating fish and can cause a host of symptoms, such as loss of peripheral vision, the feeling of "pins and needles" in hands and feet and impairment of speech, hearing and walking, according to the EPA. Mercury exposure to infants in the womb can have a severe impact on brain and nervous system development, the EPA noted. The rollbacks will likely trigger more child deaths and increase the number of cases of cancer, lung disease and heart attacks, Ryan Maher, an environmental health attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, told ABC News. The eastern U.S., which contains many industrial sites that could potential have mercury in waste discharges, could especially be impacted, study co-author Zhang said. Mercury contamination is already happening in Minnesota, where residents have been advised by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to restrict eating fish from rivers, lakes and other bodies of water that have excess mercury to once per week. If mercury levels increase, humans may have to balance fish consumption to avoid exposure, Zhang said.
