COAL POWER Act Repeals Key EPA Air Pollution Rule: What This Means for Air Quality Near Power Plants

The newly introduced COAL POWER Act—the Combating Overregulation And Limitation of Proven, Operable, Working Energy Resources Act—gets straight to the point. While Section 1 handles the name, Section 2 is the actual action: it completely wipes out a specific, recently finalized rule from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Specifically, it targets the EPA’s rule on "National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants" from coal- and oil-fired electric utility steam generating units (89 Fed. Reg. 38508).

The Rule That Just Vanished

Think of this repealed EPA rule as the safety net designed to catch the worst stuff coming out of the smokestacks of coal and oil power plants—we’re talking about hazardous air pollutants. When the COAL POWER Act says this rule is "treated as if the EPA never issued it," it means the federal standards for limiting these toxic emissions are gone. For the power companies, this is a clear win because it removes a compliance burden and the costs associated with upgrading equipment to meet those standards. For everyone else, it means the emissions those standards were supposed to control will continue—or potentially increase—without federal limits.

Who Breathes the Difference?

This repeal has a very real, very local impact. Hazardous air pollutants include substances like mercury, arsenic, and acid gases, which are linked to serious health issues, including asthma, heart disease, and neurological damage. If you live or work near one of these power plants—maybe you’re a contractor on a job site down the road, or your kid’s school is a few miles away—this change directly affects the air quality in your neighborhood. The federal government just removed a specific layer of protection intended to make that air cleaner. Without this rule, the decision on how much of these pollutants plants can emit defaults to older, potentially less stringent standards, or state-level regulations, which can vary widely.

The Cost of Flexibility

The primary benefit of this move is operational flexibility and reduced costs for the utilities that run these coal and oil power plants. They won't have to invest millions in new pollution control technology that the repealed EPA rule would have required. This could, in theory, translate to lower operating expenses, which proponents might argue helps keep energy prices stable. However, the trade-off is clear: the cost savings for the companies are potentially transferred to the public in the form of increased health risks and medical expenses associated with breathing more polluted air. This bill is a textbook example of prioritizing industrial cost reduction over environmental and public health safeguards in a specific, measurable way.