The Trump administration is taking steps to ease the “heavy burden” on the nation’s sagging coal industry by accelerating the pace of its environmental rollbacks for the country’s coal-fired power plants.

One of the two proposals released by EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler on Monday would relax some Obama-era requirements on coal-fired power plants for cleaning coal ash and toxic heavy metals from plant wastewater before dumping it into waterways.

The other would give some utilities up to several years more to clean or close the more than 400 unlined coal ash dumps around the country that lie within a few feet of groundwater.

This certainly is good news for the nation’s coal industry, whose production has steadily dropped in recent years due to our increased reliance on natural gas and some renewable energy to power the nation.

But it is bad news for the rest of us.

Environmental groups argue Monday’s moves would prolong the risk of toxic spills or drinking water contamination by adding “more pollution in waterways that is potentially going to be winding up in people’s drinking water,” Tom Schuster with the Sierra Club in Pennsylvania said.

Coal ash is known to contain heavy metals and other toxins including arsenic, mercury and cadmium that have been linked to myriad health problems. Some of it is stored in dry form or as wet slurry in ponds. It can also be used as a substitute for soil or as fill material in construction.

A recent report finds coal ash pollution is leaking into groundwater at nine power plants around Pennsylvania and more than 200 nationwide. The report, from the Environmental Integrity Project, found over 90 percent of sites that store coal ash are leaking levels of contamination exceeding EPA health standards.

Patrick Morrisey, attorney general for West Virginia, which has historically relied heavily on coal for its economy, said Monday’s changes will protect coal mining and the livelihoods of those who depend on the industry. Also will help retain jobs in Pennsylvania, the third-largest coal-producing state in the nation in 2017 and the second-largest coal exporter to foreign markets.

We’re all for a vibrant future for the state and nation’s coal industry, but we question whether relaxing EPA requirements at the expense of public safety is worth it.