U.S. EPA Repeals Biden Power Plant Emissions Rule, Proposes to End Remaining Climate Standards

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Sep. 14 finalized a repeal of most of the Biden administration’s 2024 greenhouse gas standards for power plants and proposed eliminating the remaining federal climate rules for the sector, marking one of the Trump administration’s most significant efforts to reshape U.S. electricity policy. The agency estimates the final action will reduce compliance costs by about $310 billion, while the accompanying proposal would save another $370 million if completed.

The regulator concluded that the 2024 standards exceeded its authority under the Clean Air Act, or CAA, because they relied on emissions-control technologies that were not adequately demonstrated, potentially leading to power plant retirements rather than compliance. The agency also cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in West Virginia v. EPA, which limited the federal government’s ability to require broad shifts in the nation’s electricity mix through the CAA.

Alongside the repeal, EPA proposed removing all remaining greenhouse gas requirements for power plants, arguing that the law does not authorize the agency to regulate power plant emissions based on climate change, following its repeal of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and the Supreme Court’s 2024 Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision. The proposal maintains that the targeted emissions are global in nature and fall outside the scope of the CAA’s authority for these regulations.

The administration projects the changes will encourage greater use of domestic energy resources, with coal production for electricity generation expected to increase more than tenfold under the agency’s analysis. However, environmental organizations, including the World Resources Institute and Sierra Club, argued the rollback weakens federal climate protections and could lead to higher emissions from coal- and natural gas-fired power plants.

The proposal now enters the federal rulemaking process, with a public hearing scheduled 15 days after publication in the Federal Register and a 45-day public comment period before the agency considers issuing a final rule.