Yes, it is a complete and total mischaracterization/exaggeration of what the proposed EPA rule revision would do.
The Biden Era EPA rule being revised:
The EPA's 2024 Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELGs) for steam electric power plants (under the Clean Water Act) strengthened wastewater discharge standards for coal-fired plants.
Key elements included:
Zero-discharge limits for certain waste streams: flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater, bottom ash transport water, and combustion residual leachate (CRL) from coal ash.
Numeric limits on toxic metals (e.g., mercury, arsenic) for some "unmanaged" CRL (leachate seeping from ash ponds/landfills into groundwater that then reaches surface waters).
Requirements for better treatment technologies to reduce pollutants like arsenic, mercury, selenium, and others that can harm health and ecosystems.
Compliance deadlines (generally by late 2029 for many plants), with some flexibilities for plants retiring soon.
This built on earlier rules (2015/2020) and aimed to cut hundreds of thousands of tons of pollutants annually. Industry and some analyses argued the stricter "one-size-fits-all" mandates were very costly and could accelerate coal plant retirements.