The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a highly anticipated suite of rules aimed at significantly reducing hazardous, planet-warming pollution and other toxic emissions generated by power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new regulations, which represent one of the administration's most significant environment and climate actions to date, will compel coal and new natural gas power plants to either cut or capture 90% of their climate pollution by 2032.
The EPA estimates that the power plant rules will prevent nearly 1.4 billion metric tons of planet-warming pollution from entering the atmosphere through the year 2047, equivalent to taking 330 million gas cars off the road for a year. The agency also announced tougher rules for the neurotoxin mercury emitted from power plant smokestacks and will require safer disposal of toxic wastewater and coal ash, which are byproducts of electricity generation.
"By finalizing these standards on the same day, we are ensuring that the power sector has the information needed to prepare for the future with confidence," EPA administrator Michael S. Regan told reporters. "These are the folks who keep the lights on and power our country forward. At the same time, the power sector is also a major contributor to the pollution that drives climate change and threatens public health."
The finalized rules give power generators options to choose how they meet pollution requirements, following a significant court challenge to Obama-era rules that prevailed at the Supreme Court in 2022. A senior administration official expressed confidence that the EPA had "carefully crafted" the final rules within the confines of the law, but some industry stakeholders argued the opposite.
"The path outlined by the EPA today is unlawful, unrealistic and unachievable," National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson said in a statement, claiming the actions disregard recent Supreme Court rulings. West Virginia attorney general Patrick Morrisey also vowed to challenge the final EPA rules in court, asserting they would leave power plants "with no other option but to cease operations."
Under the greenhouse gas emission rule, utilities can retrofit existing coal or new gas-fired power plants with equipment to capture and store carbon pollution, the method the EPA recommends as the "best system of emissions reduction" due to its proven effectiveness and cost-efficiency. However, companies have other options, such as burning less-polluting fuels like hydrogen in new natural gas plants or natural gas in coal plants, or retiring fossil fuel plants and shifting to cleaner energy sources like wind and solar.
The EPA also strengthened its standards to cut mercury pollution and harmful particulate matter from coal-fired power plants by up to 70%. Mercury, a potent neurotoxin, can irreversibly damage the nervous system, kidneys, liver, lungs, digestive system, and immune system when inhaled or consumed through contaminated fish.
In addition to the new standards, power plants will have to install continuous monitoring systems to detect emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants like arsenic, chromium, cobalt, and nickel. The EPA's rules also regulate three types of wastewater generated at coal-fired power plants and address water stored in coal ash ponds, reducing this form of pollution by close to 600 million pounds per year.
While environmental advocates and public health experts praised the EPA's comprehensive package of rules, Republicans and various industry groups pushed back against the regulations. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) announced plans to introduce legislation to repeal the greenhouse gas emission rule, arguing that the administration's "unrealistic climate agenda" threatens access to affordable, reliable energy.
