This analysis of reported compliance data under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, a 2011 regulation limiting emissions of hazardous air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants, finds that the regulated sources have largely surpassed the emission rate reductions needed to meet the mercury, toxic metals, and acid gas standards of the rule. For each of these pollutants, it calculates the average emissions rates for several slices of the fleet based on recent data. In addition, the analysis shows how variability in particulate matter emissions rates (as a benchmark of emissions of toxic metals found within the particulate matter) decreased markedly from 2011 to 2019.
Author: Natural Resources Defense Council
This resource was commissioned by or produced by staff of the Center for Applied Environmental Law and Policy before the organization rebranded as Ridgeline Center for Law and Policy in 2026.