The Trump administration is expected to roll back regulation meant to protect water supplies from contaminated coal ash, according to two people familiar with the plans.

The Obama-era regulation aimed to limit the leaching of heavy metals like arsenic, lead and mercury into water supplies from the ash of coal-fired power plants.

With a series of new rules expected in the coming days, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will move to weaken the 2015 regulation that would have strengthened inspection and monitoring at coal plants, lowered acceptable levels of toxic effluent and required plants to instal new technology to safeguard water supplies from contaminated ash.

The EPA will relax some of those requirements and exempt a significant number of power plants from any of the requirements.

The move is part of a series of deregulatory efforts by the Trump administration aimed at extending the lives of old, coal-fired power plants.

Indian city Chennai running out of water Show all 12 1 /12 Indian city Chennai running out of water Indian city Chennai running out of water Puzhal reservoir in Chennai, India before the drought and in its current state meaning millions of people are turning to water tank trucks as house and hotel taps have run dry Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2019 Indian workers collect water from the Puzhal reservoir AFP/Getty Images Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2018 This June 15, 2018, Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Puzhal reservoir in Chennai, India before the drought. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. (Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies via AP) Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2019 The drought is the worst in living memory for the bustling capital of Tamil Nadu state Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water Indian residents get water from a community well in Chennai after reservoirs for the city ran dry AFP/Getty Images Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2018 This June 15, 2018, satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Puzhal reservoir, Chennai, India before draught. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. (Satellite image Â©2019 Maxar Technologies via AP) Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water April 2019 This April 6, 2019, satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Puzhal reservoir in Chennai, India during drought. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. (Satellite image Â©2019 Maxar Technologies via AP) Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2019 This June 15, 2019, Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Puzhal reservoir in Chennai, India during the drought. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. (Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies via AP) Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2019 This June 15, 2019, Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Puzhal reservoir in Chennai, India during the drought. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. (Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies via AP) Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2019 People sit around a tower for measuring water depth in the dried-up Puzhal reservoir Reuters Indian city Chennai running out of water Indians stand in queues to fill vessels filled with drinking water from a water tanker in Chennai AP Indian city Chennai running out of water A man walks through the dried-up Puzhal reservoir, Reuters

Coal ash, the residue produced from burning coal, was dumped for years in holding areas near power plants, largely without regulation, but it came to the public’s attention after spills in North Carolina and Tennessee sent mercury, cadmium, arsenic and other heavy metals from the ash into water supplies.

Environmental groups warned that the regulatory rollback could lead to contaminated drinking water and birth defects, cancer and stunted brain development in young children.

Energy analysts said the administration’s latest gambit to bolster the industry would not save it from its long decline.

A spokesman for the EPA did not respond to a request for comment.

Around 1.1 million Americans live within three miles of a coal plant that discharges pollutants into a public waterway, according to the EPA.

One person familiar with the EPA’s current plans said the agency intended to say that the new rule would remove more pollutants than the Obama-era regulation. That assertion is based on an analysis that assumes about 30 per cent of power plants will voluntarily choose to instal more rigorous technology.

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The new rule also will confine the areas that utilities must measure for leakage, according to a second person.

Power plants were originally required to start complying with the requirements by as early as November 2018, but Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump’s first EPA administrator, postponed compliance until 2020.

Environmental activists said they intended to challenge the rollbacks in court.