Tag: MATS

EPA Reinstates Legal Footing for MATS Rule

On February 17, 2023, the EPA reaffirmed the scientific, economic, and legal underpinnings of the 2012 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for power plants, which required significant reductions of mercury, acid gases, and other harmful pollutants. This reinstates an Obama-era legal finding that affirmed the science behind clean air standards, and it reverses a […]

EPA Wants to Put MATS Back in Play

The EPA recently proposed to “reaffirm the scientific, economic, and legal underpinnings of the 2012 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for power plants, which require significant reductions of mercury, acid gases, and other harmful pollutants,” the Agency stated in a news release dated January 31, 2022. To do so, the Agency’s proposal is to […]

Coal power plant with air emissions

EPA Faces Backlash, Lawsuits Over Changes to MATS

In a petition filed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 19, 2020, 23 advocacy groups represented by Earthjustice sued the EPA and asked the court to overturn the current administration’s updated benefit-cost analysis (BCA) for limits on coal-fired power plants’ mercury emissions. The existing Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) regulations took […]

EPA Reverses Coal Plant Mercury Finding, But MATS Stays in Place

In a final action, the Trump EPA has reversed a finding the Agency made in 2000 (and affirmed by the Obama EPA in 2012) that it is appropriate and necessary (A&N) to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from coal- and oil-fired electric generating units (EGUs) under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act […]

Coal Plant

Small Coal Plants Benefit from MATS Amendment

It has been clear for some time that deregulatory actions at the federal level will slow but not stop the decline of coal as an energy source in the United States. Still, the EPA continues to do what it can to ensure that coal remains a key component of the nation’s energy portfolio.

EPA sign

Motivation, Legality of Memo to EPA Science Advisory Board Questioned by House Leader

Concerns about instructions in a draft memorandum from EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler about which proposed documents the Agency’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) reviews were raised in a letter Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-D) sent to Wheeler. According to Johnson, the draft memo directed that the chair of the SAB, “in consultation with EPA,” would determine […]

EEI Opposes Elimination of MATS

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which represents the interests of all U.S. investor-owned electric companies, does not believe the EPA should eliminate its 2012 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS).