The fight over the Trump EPA’s mercury air pollution rollback has begun
States, local governments and environmental groups argue the rollback puts the health of kids and pregnant women at risk.
A coalition of 21 Democratic-led states and local governments sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday to block it from loosening federal air pollution standards for mercury and other hazardous air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants, arguing the toxins are particularly harmful to pregnant women and children.
The coalition argued the repeal is unlawful because the agency didn’t provide a reasoned basis for a change that could elevate exposure to toxins that pose serious risks to the nervous system, cardiovascular health and early childhood development.
They are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to determine the repeal is unlawful, and order the agency to reverse it.
“The Trump administration has made a significant step backwards, allowing more toxic air pollution that will harm our communities,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement.
Raoul’s office led the coalition alongside Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
They said that mercury emissions also impact Lake Michigan, rivers and other water bodies. That pollution harms recreation and commercial fishing economies, as well as Native American tribes that rely on them for subsistence fishing.
The lawsuit is the second to challenge the EPA’s February rollback of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. A coalition of environmental and public health groups including Earthjustice, the American Lung Association and the Natural Resources Defense Council sued earlier this week.
The standards the Trump EPA repealed were finalized by the Biden administration in 2024. The repealed updates were the first significant revisions to the rules since they were implemented in 2011.
Between 2011 and 2017, mercury emissions from power plants dropped 81.7%, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress.
In announcing the repeal, the EPA said that the Biden administration’s revisions imposed higher costs on industry than warranted. The agency argued the existing 2012 rule had already driven steep reductions in toxic emissions and that newer requirements exceeded what available and affordable technologies could justify.