On April 8, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation, announcing that coal-fired power plants are exempt from complying with new EPA emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants for two years beyond the regulation's compliance date of July 8, 2027. The regulation, which EPA finalized in May 2024, amended the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards to make them more protective of air quality. 89 Fed. Reg. 38,508 (May 7, 2024).
The exemption is made pursuant to Clean Air Act section 112(i)(4) (42 U.S.C. 7412(i)(4)), which authorizes the President to exempt stationary sources from compliance with emissions standards for no more than 2 years if the President "determines that the technology to implement such standard is not available and that it is in the national security interests of the United States to do so." In the proclamation, President Trump claims that both those conditions have been met.