From the Daily Caller
Nick Pope
Contributor
The Supreme Court on Friday declined to block two key Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, dealing a blow to red state and industry interests challenging the rules.
The court did not step in to halt the Environmental Protection Agency's rules tightening limits on mercury in emissions from coal-fired power plants and methane from oil and gas production, meaning the rules will apparently remain in effect while challengers' lawsuits make their way through lower courts, according to Reuters News agency reports. The groups and states filing emergency appeals to the Supreme Court argued that the agency exceeded its legal authority when it issued regulations under the Clean Air Act, and that the EPA stripped states of their ability to set their own emissions rules.
Reuters reports that the mercury regulations will reduce the amount of toxic metals allowed to be emitted by all coal-fired power plants by 67% and tighten mercury emission limits from lignite power plants by 70%. Challengers, including oil and gas developers, mining companies and groups focused on electricity markets, argue the EPA went too far in issuing new restrictions that would effectively force coal-fired power plants to retire early, jeopardizing America’s energy reliability. (Related: Officials told Biden's EPA its aggressive green power plant plan had serious flaws, documents show)
'Unavoidable and foreseeable': Grid operators ask court to strike down EPA rules to save power system from collapse https://t.co/0LAt8gHVSN
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 18, 2024
According to Reuters, the methane rules also address emissions of a category called “volatile organic compounds” and are intended to limit flaring, the burning of excess methane during oil and gas production. The rules also require developers to more closely monitor potential methane leaks from their oil and gas infrastructure and establish methane leak reporting programs specifically for methane “super polluters.”
“EPA is pleased that the Supreme Court has denied a petition to stay enforcement of the Amended Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS),” an EPA spokesperson said in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The revised MATS rule will ensure that the nation's coal-fired power plants meet the latest standards for hazardous air pollutants, reflect the latest advances in pollution control technology, and is firmly rooted in the authority of its Clean Air Act.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined in July and August to temporarily block both rules while it reviewed them, Reuters reported.
In recent years, the Supreme Court has moved to block major regulatory initiatives by the EPA, such as its landmark 2022 ruling in West Virginia v. EPA that vacated the agency’s 2014 Clean Power Plan, To reshape the U.S. power grid so that it relies heavily on green energy to replace fossil fuels.
In June, the court also overturned the “Chevron deference” precedent that had allowed agencies such as the EPA broad discretion to interpret ambiguous regulations. This particular ruling already challenges some of the most aggressive regulatory actions taken by the Biden-Harris EPA to date.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to include comments from the EPA.
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