Policy & Regulation

GOP lawmakers introduce resolution aimed at overturning EPA power plant rules

Coal and new gas plants would be required to capture their emissions using CCS or retire by various compliance dates in the 2030s.
GOP lawmakers introduce resolution aimed at overturning EPA power plant rules

44 U.S. senators introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule for coal- and new natural gas-fired plants.

The group includes Sen. Joe Manchin (I – W.V.) and 43 Republican senators. U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson (R -OH) led 138 of his colleagues in introducing a similar resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“This new power plant rule isn’t just another bureaucratic maneuver in this administration’s strategy to end the fossil fuel industry by a thousand cuts, it’s a calculated knockout punch to the coal and natural gas industry,” said Sen. Manchin. “Make no mistake, other sources of energy are not yet ready to pick up the slack in our power system that will be created by this regulation.”

As we’ve reported, the rule would require coal and new gas plants to capture their emissions using carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) or retire by various compliance dates in the 2030s.

Opponents, which include trade groups like the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA),  argue the EPA rule would be a death blow to the coal industry. Opposition to the rule has mainly come with concerns that its implementation would jeopardize grid reliability and that the emission reduction technologies proposed by EPA aren’t ready for prime time.

Under the rule, coal plants which plan to stay open beyond 2039 would have to reduce or capture 90% of their CO2 emissions by 2032. Coal plants that are scheduled to close by 2039 would have to cut their emissions 16% by 2030, while those that are set to retire by 2032 would be exempted from the new rule.

Last month NCREA filed a motion to stay the rule in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

EPA has outlined a suite of measures aimed at reducing air, water and land pollution from the power sector. As the sector makes long-term investments in the transition to clean energy, EPA said the rules are designed to work with power companies’ planning processes. Regulators say they project the rules will result in reductions of 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution overall through 2047.

Plant owners are expected to file their implementation plans by May of 2026, according to a call recently held by NCREA.