"Senior officials at the Environmental Protection Agency are expected to announce the move on Friday, according to people briefed on the matter."
"The Environmental Protection Agency plans this week to loosen restrictions on coal-burning power plants, allowing them to emit more hazardous pollutants including mercury, a powerful neurotoxin that can impair babies’ brain development, internal agency documents show.
Senior E.P.A. officials are expected to announce the move during a trip to Louisville, Ky., on Friday, according to two people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The move is one of many efforts by the Trump administration to make it easier and cheaper to produce and use fossil fuels, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that pollution from burning oil, gas and coal is harming public health and dangerously warming the planet.
In particular, the administration is taking steps to improve the economics of coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, by rolling back several regulations that would have made it much more expensive, if not impossible, for many coal plants to keep operating."
Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow report for the New York Times February 18, 2026.
