High Court Curbs EPA's Power to Regulate Emissions
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday nixed the EPA's landmark rule limiting mercury and other emissions from power plants, saying it should have considered the rule's multi-billion-dollar compliance costs first.
WVCA member Murray Energy, 21 separate states, including West Virginia under the leadership of Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, and industry groups challenged the 2012 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) claiming the $9.6 billion costs to comply far outweighed the $6 billion in benefits alleged by EPA! The Court concurred with NMA’s primary argument that EPA was unreasonable in not considering costs—including the cost of compliance—before deciding whether regulation of power plants is appropriate and necessary. In the Court’s words, “it is not rational, never mind ‘appropriate,’ to impose billions of dollars in economic costs in return for a few dollars in health benefits.” Opinion is available by clicking here.
The Supreme Court remanded the case back to the DC Circuit Court for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. The practical impact of this opinion on the decisions to retire or retrofit existing power plants remains to be determined. More than 400 coal units representing 142,000 MW of capacity have been granted one-year extensions for compliance with MATS by installing controls to meet the standards. We are hopeful the ruling might potentially save some of that capacity from retirement and/or change final choices regarding compliance options. The Association’s press release is included below.