Specifically, the new Trump administration proposal would repeal a 2011 finding made by the E.P.A. Under the mercury program, the economic benefits of those health effects, known as “co-benefits,” helped to provide a legal and economic justification for the cost to industry of the regulation. It found that reducing mercury brings up to $6 billion annually in health benefits — a high number, but not as high as the cost to industry. Should the proposal become final, it would mean that the mercury rule would, on paper, incur far greater economic cost than it would provide quantifiable health benefits. The Trump administration would then be legally justified in weakening the rule.

Source: New York Times September 30, 2018 18:11 UTC