EPA Proposes Changes to Biden-Era Power Plant Wastewater Discharge Rules

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to roll back the Biden administration’s wastewater standards for power plants. The agency said on Thursday it is reconsidering a rule known as the effluent limitation guidelines for power plants, a move it said would improve grid reliability and reduce compliance costs.

The Biden administration finalized the effluent limitation guidelines rule in 2024 as part of a suite of standards aimed at reducing pollution from fossil fuel power plants.

That rule set stringent standards aimed at reducing the discharge of toxic metals and other pollutants into waterways from coal-fired power plants. The Biden administration’s 2024 wastewater rule targeted pollutants such as selenium, mercury, arsenic, and nickel, halogen compounds such as bromide, chloride, and iodide, nutrients, and total dissolved solids.

Those pollutants can enter drinking water sources, recreational waters, and aquatic life.

The EPA’s proposal would rescind certain “one-size-fits-all” limits and allow permit writers greater flexibility to set discharge limits on a case-by-case basis. Washington Examiner reported that the Trump EPA has sought to reverse several Biden administration standards on power plants as part of an effort to boost fossil fuel energy production.

The Trump EPA said the 2024 rule has jeopardized many affordable and reliable baseload power plants.

1 billion annually. “This proposal is critical to advancing the Trump administration’s efforts to make electricity more affordable and reliable for all Americans while powering economic growth,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement. ” Zeldin continued that the Trump EPA will continue doing its part to address these burdensome regulations on the coal-fired power plant sector that hold American communities back from the new opportunities presented by this new 21st century energy reality.

In a separate but related action, the EPA last year proposed rescinding a Biden administration rule that would require new and existing plants to reduce carbon pollution by installing carbon capture, sequestration, and storage technology. The EPA has also finalized a rule rescinding the Biden administration 2024 rule known as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS.

The agency reverted the MATS rule back to the 2012 standards.

The EPA argued that the 2012 standards are sufficient to reduce emissions.