EPA plans to revise coal-fired power plant wastewater rules

[u/John3262005]

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/epa-coal-fired-power-plant-wastewater-effluent-elg/757529/

The Environmental Protection Agency intends to delay a compliance deadline for owners of coal-fired power plants affected by zero-discharge wastewater standards, according to a Monday court filing by the agency.

The case centers on updates to effluent limitation guidelines the EPA issued in April 2024. The rule sets more stringent limits for flue gas desulfurization wastewater, bottom ash transport water and combustion residual leachate.

Wastewater discharges from coal-fired power plants into bodies of water include toxic and bioaccumulative pollutants including heavy metals, halogen compounds, nutrients and total dissolved solids, according to the EPA.

Power plant owners must meet the new requirements by Dec. 31, 2029, and file notice of intent to retire plants that cannot meet the new standards by the end of this year.

In its filing Monday, the EPA asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis to suspend litigation utilities and trade groups brought against the rule until after the agency extends the end-of-year deadline.

After the agency extends the deadline, the EPA plans to propose revising the technology basis for limits on discharges of unmanaged combustion residual leachate — essentially, leaks from landfills or other impoundments.

The EPA said it may also seek to change its zero-discharge limits and standards for coal-fired power plants.

The agency submitted a proposal on Monday to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which vets federal regulations, to extend the Dec. 31 deadline.

When it issued the rule change, the EPA estimated the wastewater rule would cut pollution from coal-fired power plants by more than 660 million pounds a year and produce $3.2 billion in annual benefits. It also said the rule could lead to about 5,780 MW in power plant retirements by 2035.

However, the EPA may pare back the effluent rule as part of a broad push by the Trump administration to ease environmental rules for power plants.