EPA proposed repealing greenhouse gas emissions standards for power plants under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act and the 2024 amendments to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. 

The move was widely expected, as the agency’s attempts to regulate emissions in the power sector have gone through several 180-degree reversals over the past decade depending on the party occupying the White House. 

“Affordable, reliable electricity is key to the American dream and a natural byproduct of national energy dominance,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement announcing the move June 11. “According to many, the primary purpose of these Biden-Harris administration regulations was to destroy industries that didn’t align with their narrow-minded climate change zealotry. Together, these rules have been criticized as being designed to regulate coal, oil and gas out of existence.” 

The proposal would repeal the 2015 emissions standards for new fossil fuel-fired power plants issued under President Barack Obama and the 2024 rule for new and existing fossil fuel-fired power plants under President Joe Biden. The 2024 rule was needed because the Supreme Court struck down the first Clean Power Plan in 2022 in West Virginia v. EPA, which introduced the “major questions doctrine” as a legal argument limiting regulatory power. 

Unlike other air pollutants that have a regional or local impact, the emissions targeted in the rules are global in nature. EPA is proposing that the Clean Air Act require the agency to make a finding that the targeted emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants are significant in a global context. 

“The share of GHG emissions from the U.S. power sector, including CO2, to global concentrations of GHGs in the atmosphere is relatively minor and has been declining over time,” the proposed rule says. “In 2005, U.S. electric power sector GHG emissions comprised 5.5% of total global GHG emissions. This percentage has fallen steadily since then to 4.6% in 2010, to 3.7% in 2015, and comprising 3% of total global emissions by 2022.” 

Part of that decline is from the rise in GHGs in other countries, with the proposed rule saying that while domestic coal use has declined since its peak in 2007, more coal was burned globally than ever before in 2024. 

A major reason that EPA tried to regulate CO2 in the first place was the Supreme Court’s 2007 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, which held it could if it made an endangerment finding on GHGs. EPA is not trying to overturn that endangerment finding, Zeldin said in a press conference unveiling the two proposed rules. 

“I don’t have anything to announce today as it relates to any proposed rulemaking that may be to come on that topic, and we will update the public as soon as we do have an announcement,” Zeldin said. 

2024 MATS Amendments

EPA also proposed eliminating the 2024 updates to the MATS for coal and oil-fired power plants, reverting back to 2012 standards that drove a sharp reduction in the covered pollutants.  

By 2021 mercury emissions from coal plants were already 90% below pre-MATS levels; acid gas hazardous air pollutant emissions have been cut by over 96%; and emissions of non-mercury metals like nickel, arsenic and lead are down 81%. 

EPA said repealing the rule would save $1.2 billion in regulatory costs over a decade, or about $120 million a year. 

Reactions to the EPA’s proposed repeals were mixed, with Democrats and environmentalists opposing them and Republicans and some industry supporting it. 

Electric Power Supply Association CEO Todd Snitchler said repealing the rule will help the power industry meet growing electricity demand, which requires policies that encourage the continued operation of existing power plants and attracting new investment. 

“EPA’s rulemaking requiring the use of carbon capture and sequestration technology for existing coal and new natural gas power plants nationwide was unrealistic, unachievable and poorly timed,” he said. “The United States is on the cusp of an increased level of demand for electricity, driven in part by the development of artificial intelligence, a resurgence of domestic manufacturing and electrification policies.” 

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association said the carbon rule exceeded EPA’s authority and disregarded prior Supreme Court decisions, while the MATS updates were costly with minimal benefits that would prematurely retire coal plants. 

“Today’s announcements are a welcome course correction that will help electric co-ops reliably meet skyrocketing energy needs and keep the lights on at a cost local families and businesses can afford,” NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said. “These rules force power plants into premature retirement and handcuff how often new natural gas plants can run. Both of them are textbook examples of a bad energy policy that compounds today’s reliability challenges.” 

Natural Resources Defense Council CEO Manish Bapna said in a statement that EPA is waving the white flag to combating pollution that harms the climate. 

“Power plants are the largest industrial source of carbon emissions, spewing more than 1.5 billion tons of greenhouse gases annually,” Bapna said. “EPA claims this pollution is insignificant — but try telling that to the people who will experience more storms, heat waves, hospitalizations and asthma attacks because of this repeal. What’s more, … EPA is trying to repeal toxic air pollution standards for the nation’s dirtiest coal plants, allowing the worst actors to keep poisoning the air.”