The letter also calls for the Trump administration to review other previous EPA enforcement at specific sites, “in light of new priorities.” And it calls for review of contracts awarded for coal ash enforcement.
A Duke Energy spokesperson declined to comment. Vistra and Southern Illinois Power Cooperative did not respond to messages and emails sent Monday evening.
Evans disputed the letter’s contention that federal coal ash regulations are not “practical and based on demonstrated risk.”
“Their claims are nonsense and unfounded,” Evans said. “For the Trump administration, it doesn’t matter whether these arguments have any merit; it matters who is asking.”
The vast majority of coal ash sites nationwide are contaminating groundwater, companies’ own data shows. Duke Energy has excavated ash from a number of sites in North Carolina, following criminal charges related to the 2014 Dan River spill. Talen’s coal ash in Montana is putting the Northern Cheyenne Tribe at risk. American Electric Power, former owner of the Gavin plant, bought out the entire town of Cheshire, Ohio, because of pollution from the plant.
The industry letter also calls on Zeldin to “quickly rescind” a new EPA rule that would force fossil fuel plants to install technology to drastically scale back their emissions. Dozens of states and companies are challenging that rule in federal court. As a Congress member from New York, Zeldin frequently voted against environmental protections. He also pledged to overturn the state’s ban on fracking during an unsuccessful run for governor.
The letter says the rules “threaten the reliability of the power grid, jeopardize national security, are a drag on economic growth, increase inflation, and hinder the expansion of electric power generation” needed for AI and other technologies.
Prior to Trump’s re-election, the EPA was increasingly prioritizing coal ash. In 2023, the agency announced coal ash was among six top enforcement priorities for fiscal years 2024 through 2027, saying failure to comply with the rules can cause significant “harm to human health and the environment…through catastrophic releases of contaminants into the air or contamination of groundwater, drinking water, or surface water.”
To change rules enshrined in federal law, the EPA would need to initiate a lengthy rulemaking process that includes public comment. Any new rules would need to meet standards in the Administrative Procedure Act, including having a “rational basis,” as the Act says. If the agency were to adopt rules that failed to meet these criteria, advocacy groups would likely sue.
“You can’t just revoke a rule and replace it with one that’s friendly to industry,” said Evans. “If the reality is coal ash is contaminating groundwater at nearly every site in the country, it’s going to be hard for the Trump administration to write a rule that allows utilities to continue to pollute.”
