The Trump administration has given almost 70 power plants that burn coal a two-year pass from national rules. These rules require them to lower harmful chemicals like mercury, arsenic, and benzene.

On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency published a list online. This list includes 47 power companies that use coal power plants and are allowed to ignore certain rules under the Clean Air Act. These rules are from the Biden administration and include limits on dangerous substances like mercury. This decision comes after President Trump signed an order last week to help the coal industry, which has been having problems for a long time. Coal is a dependable source of energy, but it causes pollution.

Some power plants have been allowed to keep operating. One example is a very large power plant in Colstrip, Montana. According to the EPA, this plant releases more harmful air pollution, like lead and arsenic, than any other similar plant in the U.S. Other plants that can keep operating include the Coal Creek Station in North Dakota, which releases a lot of mercury, and the Oak Grove plant in Texas, which also pollutes a lot.

Some of the biggest power companies in the country own the plants that are not included. These companies include Talen Energy, Dominion Energy, NRG Energy, and Southern Co.

These special rules also apply to four power stations run by the Tennessee Valley Authority. This is the biggest public energy company in the country.

On Tuesday, the EPA announced that the president's special rules will help produce electricity using coal. They said this will make sure our country's power system is dependable, that electricity is not too expensive for Americans, and that the EPA is helping to make our nation's energy supply more secure.

Michelle Bloodworth, the head of a group that supports coal power plants, said Trump thinks the country's coal plants are "important for keeping our electricity supply reliable and safe, which is the basis of our economy."

She said the rules put in place by former President Joe Biden "did not match the Clean Air Act and were based on a wrong analysis of the data."

Bloodworth said the rule about mercury, which was finished last year, might have caused many coal power plants to close earlier than planned. He also said these plants are needed to help keep the electricity system reliable.

Environmental groups said Trump and Lee Zeldin failed in their duty by allowing these exemptions, which they said required a presidential finding that the technology needed for the new rules was not widely available and that the plants' continued operation helped national security.

Maya Golden-Krasner, a lawyer for an environmental group, said that allowing more pollution really hurts the government's work to keep our air clean. She also said it's bad to claim that making people breathe more harmful chemicals is necessary for the country's safety. She thinks this shows that companies that pollute care more about making money than about the health of Americans and the Earth.

Environmental and health groups have strongly criticized the government's plan to give special permission to companies, saying it could let many avoid laws that protect the environment and people's health.

Some critics say the new email address the EPA created to ask for special permission is a "polluters' portal."

Some environmental rules can be ignored, including those about mercury and other dangerous air pollution. Getting too much mercury can hurt the brain, especially in children, and can cause problems for babies before they are born if the mother is exposed.

Last week, Trump used his special powers to let some older coal power plants, which were going to close, stay open and make electricity. This was because the U.S. needs more power for things like data centers, AI, and electric cars. Trump also told government groups to look for coal on government land, make it easier to mine coal, and focus on letting companies mine coal on U.S. land.

Trump, who is a Republican, has often said he wants to use more coal, which he calls "beautiful," to make electricity and for other things.