A US federal appeals court on 19 July ruled that a new federal regulation announced in April and aimed at limiting pollution from coal-fired power plants can remain in force even while challenges continue. The EPA rule would oblige many coal plants to capture 90% of their carbon emissions, or shut down within eight years.
Industry groups and some Republican-led states had asked the court to block the Environmental Protection Agency rule on an emergency basis, saying it was unattainable and threatened the reliability of the nation’s power grid. EPA rules are a key part of president Joe Biden’s pledge to eliminate carbon pollution from the electricity sector by 2035, and economy-wide by 2050.
However a panel of three judges in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the industry request to block the rule, saying the groups had not shown sufficient cause. Nor did the case invoke a major question under a previous Supreme Court ruling, since the EPA claimed only the power to “set emissions limits … that would reduce pollution by causing the regulated source to operate more cleanly,” the appeals court ruled. The unanimous ruling also rejected the claim of immediate harm, saying compliance deadlines do not take effect until 2030 or 2032.
The ruling was issued by Judges Patricia Millett, Cornelia Pillard and Neomi Rao. Environmental groups said the ruling recognised the EPA’s legal responsibility to control harmful pollution, including from greenhouse gas emissions. Meredith Hankins, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the EPA rule “set reasonable standards for utilities and states to cut their carbon pollution.” The searing heat wave hitting much of the nation is a sign of how much the rules are needed, she said. “The idea that power producers need immediate relief from modest standards that start to kick in eight years from now was obviously absurd,” Hankins added. West Virginia and other states that challenged the rule “have plenty of time to begin their planning process” to comply with the rule. However, the National Mining Association, which joined the legal challenges, said it would seek an emergency stay from the Supreme Court.
“The stakes couldn’t be higher. The nation’s power supply is already being pushed to the limit, and this rule flies in the face of what the nation’s utilities, grid operators and grid reliability experts tell us is needed to maintain grid reliability,” said Rich Nolan, the group’s president and CEO.
Nolan and other industry leaders said the rule would force the premature closure of power plants that are crucial to maintaining grid reliability even as demand for electricity surges.
Timothy Carroll, a spokesman for the EPA, said the agency was pleased that the court allowed the power plant rule to go into effect while litigation continues. The EPA projects that the rule will yield up to $370 billion in climate and health net benefits and avoid nearly 1.4 billion metric tons of carbon pollution through 2047, equivalent to preventing annual emissions of 328 million gasoline-powered cars.
The power plant rule marks the first time the federal government has restricted carbon dioxide emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. The rule would also oblige future electric plants fuelled by coal or natural gas to control up to 90% of their carbon pollution.
