The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a rule delaying the deadlines for tougher wastewater treatment standards for coal-fired power plants by five years, a move the agency says will reduce regulatory burdens but that critics warn will allow large volumes of toxic pollution to continue flowing into American waterways.
The delayed standards, known as effluent limitation euidelines (ELGs), were designed to significantly reduce the discharge of wastewater containing arsenic, mercury, bromide and other hazardous pollutants that coal plants are permitted to release directly into rivers, lakes and streams.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the delay is part of a broader effort to roll back what the agency characterizes as overly restrictive regulations imposed by the previous administration.
“Americans are suffering because the past administration attempted to apply heavy-handed regulations to coal and other forms of energy it deemed unfavourable,” Zeldin said in a statement. “It is time to restore common sense to the programs and regulations we use to protect human health and the environment.”
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Zeldin added that coal remains a critical part of the U.S. energy mix. “Beautiful clean coal has been a reliable energy source supporting American communities and economic growth for generations,” he said. “We can improve air quality in our national parks and protect our waterways while simultaneously unleashing domestic energy and reducing costs for American families.”
Environmental groups sharply criticized the move, arguing that it prioritizes industry over public health and drinking water protection.
“Rather than protect our drinking water, Trump’s EPA is again offering coal power plants permission to pollute,” announced Thom Cmar, deputy managing attorney for the Midwest Regional Office of Earthjustice. “Coal power plants should have been forced to stop this toxic dumping into our waterways decades ago. Municipal drinking water utilities begged EPA to require coal-fired power plants to keep these toxic pollutants out of waterways that are the source of local drinking water.”
Cmar called the delay “an unjustifiable handout to the coal power industry at the expense of our health,” adding, “We will see them in court.”
Coal-fired power plants are among the largest sources of water pollution in the United States. By the EPA’s own estimates, delaying the updated ELGs will result in approximately 660 million pounds of additional pollutants being discharged into U.S. waterways each year, said Earthjustice.
The wastewater rule delay comes as part of a broader regulatory shift at the agency. On December 31, 2025, Zeldin signed a final rule revising the Regional Haze Rule (RHR), extending the deadline for states to submit State Implementation Plans (SIPs) for the third planning period from July 31, 2028, to July 31, 2031.
EPA said the extension is intended to give states and regional planning organizations additional time to adapt their plans to anticipated changes to the RHR, as the agency works to restructure existing regulations. The move was first signaled last summer through an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
The stricter wastewater standards, finalized last year, were intended to require substantial reductions in arsenic, mercury, bromide and other pollutants, with the goal of moving toward zero discharge of coal-plant wastewater. During drinking water treatment, bromide can form carcinogenic byproducts, and some municipal utilities have been forced to install costly treatment systems to remove contaminants traced to upstream coal-fired power plants.
EPA analyses conducted during the rule-making process estimated that the benefits of implementing the tougher standards — including reduced cancer and cardiovascular disease, lower lead exposure in children, and reduced drinking water treatment costs — would outweigh industry compliance costs by at least three to six times.
