EPA Finalizes Package of Standards to Slash Power Plant Pollution, Helping Advance the Transition from Coal to Clean Energy

Federal standards will ensure cleaner, reliable power, protecting the climate and the health and welfare of our communities

Washington, D.C. – In a major win for the climate and public health, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized four separate standards today that will slash air, water, and carbon pollution from power plants. 

These critically-needed safeguards will improve air and water quality for families and communities across the country. In partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Beyond Carbon initiative, Sierra Club has long been advocating for stronger national limits on coal and gas pollution and a transition to cleaner, more reliable energy. Today’s announcement from the EPA will help us get there while also ensuring that more communities can breathe cleaner, healthier air along the way. The Sierra Club has profiled how dangerous coal plants are and why these rules are desperately needed.

Over one million people submitted public comments on proposals to strengthen these federal standards, including tens of thousands of Sierra Club members and supporters who urged the Biden administration to adopt the most protective rules possible. 

In response to the announcement of the standards, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous released the following statement: 

“The Biden Administration is taking historic and decisive action to protect our health, our clean air and water, and safeguard our collective future. In finalizing federal standards to address the deadly and dangerous pollution from fossil fuel power plants, which have long endangered our communities, the Biden Administration has listened to the overwhelming public demand and delivered on its promise to ensure every person, regardless of zip code, gains access to clean air, safe water, and a stable climate. 

“Today is the culmination of years of advocacy for common-sense safeguards that will have a direct impact on communities long forced to suffer in the shadow of the dirtiest power plants in the country. It is also a major step forward in our movement’s fight to decarbonize the electric sector and help avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

“This suite of rules marks the beginning of our next chapter in the fight to transition to a 100 percent clean energy economy. This future will be built on a reliable and affordable power grid that leaves no community saddled with the pollution that threatens their health and their futures. Slashing harmful emissions from the hundreds of fossil fuel power plants across the country is a critical part of that effort, and we look forward to working closely with the Biden EPA to implement both these final rules and the Administration’s new comprehensive approach for existing gas plants as soon as possible.”

Environment Program Lead at Bloomberg Philanthropies Antha Williams said:

"Through our decade-plus partnership with Sierra Club and other partners, the Beyond Carbon and Beyond Coal initiatives have been laser-focused on protecting our climate, air, and water from the devastating pollution spewed out by coal and gas power plants and advancing the transition to clean energy. The EPA standards finalized today are a monumental step forward for reducing the burdens of toxic pollution on local communities and a testament to the Biden Administration’s commitment to hitting the country’s climate targets and protecting America’s health and environment.”

Background for standards:

Carbon Pollution Standards:

• These final federal carbon pollution standards, issued under section 111 of the Clean Air Act, will control carbon emissions from new gas-fired power plants and existing coal-fired plants. These safeguards are among the most significant tools ever developed for reducing climate-disrupting emissions from the power sector, driving near-term retirements of uneconomic coal plants and slowing the buildout of large new gas power plants. Prior to now, there have been no federal limits at all on carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants and no meaningful limits for new sources.
• Today’s final rule does not address pollution from gas plants currently in operation. In February, the EPA announced the agency is currently working on issuing a new proposal to reduce carbon pollution from those sources along with safeguards against other harmful air emissions from gas plants.

Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS): 

• These protections against heavy metals, mercury, and other hazardous emissions from coal-fired power plants will help protect vulnerable communities from some of the most dangerous types of air pollution, including cancer-causing agents and neurotoxins.
• The final updates to MATS will require the most polluting coal-fired power plants to reduce emissions of toxins such as chromium and arsenic by adopting cost-effective, readily available pollution controls. The updates also will finally require coal plants that burn lignite, or brown coal – almost all of which are located in Texas and North Dakota – to meet the same mercury standards as other coal plants for the first time, reducing their emissions by 70 percent.

Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELGs), or coal wastewater standards:

• These updated standards will improve upon existing safeguards by requiring further reduction in toxic wastewater discharged by coal-fired power plants through cost-effective and readily available control technologies. These plants are among the largest sources of hazardous wastewater pollutants like arsenic and mercury in the nation. 
• The final guidelines also eliminate toxic scrubber and bottom ash wastewater discharges and address sludge collected at the bottom of coal ash landfills, which is often held for years then released into nearby rivers.

Coal Ash Standards:

• These updated standards will protect the public from millions of tons of toxic coal ash sitting in old landfills and ponds across the country previously exempt from federal regulations. 
• The updates to federal standards for coal ash will regulate coal ash disposed of in old landfills and other fill areas at power plants, not just ash in “active” landfills. For the first time, the rule will also regulate the many coal ash ponds located at retired power plants, called legacy ponds.