Clean Air Act

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued new guidance under its New Source Review (NSR) preconstruction permitting program that could allow power plant developers to begin certain non-emissions‐related site work—such as installing concrete pads, grading, and utility trenching—before obtaining a Clean Air Act construction permit. The change, described in a sparse set of paragraphs […]

In recent years, analysis of the world’s power plant emissions appears to have centered largely on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), mainly because carbon dominates global accounting frameworks and climate goals. In

A major Pennsylvania coal-fired power plant, the largest coal-burning facility in the state before it was closed in 2023, may be converted to a natural gas-fired station. Officials in Homer City on Dec. 3 announced plans to restart the Homer City Generating Station and increase its generating capacity through burning natural gas. A redevelopment group […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has denied motions to stay a suite of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that champion carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology as a key pathway for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from fossil fuel-fired power plants. The rules face legal challenges from 24 states, eight […]

Two IT air quality data systems that inform the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) regulatory and compliance decisions are outdated, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has suggested. The federal agency must make progress to develop a business case to replace them, it said.  The congressional watchdog in a report made public on Sept. 29 […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May 2023 published a proposed rule that would establish new source performance standards (NSPS) and existing source performance standards (ESPS) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from new, modified, reconstructed, and existing fossil-fuel fired electric generating units (EGUs). COMMENTARY The proposed rule, which EPA plans to promulgate pursuant to […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has unveiled new greenhouse gas (GHG) standards for the nation’s power plants, moving to require both existing and new facilities to capture emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) for the first time. The rule announced May 11, if implemented, would mean coal- and natural gas-fired power plants would have to […]

The U.S. Supreme Court has curbed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) options for limiting emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from power plants, an important environmental decision that could impact the federal government’s authority to enforce other regulations. The court in a 6-3 vote, with conservatives in the majority, on June 30 said the EPA does […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) “Secret Science” rule establishing new standards for consideration of certain “pivotal” scientific studies, which was slated to go into effect on Jan. 6 of this year, has been vacated and remanded by the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. The decision reached Feb. 1 impacts the power generation […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a change to a long-standing policy interpreting “ambient air”—a foundational concept under the Clean Air Act that applies to all types of air pollution, from ground-level ozone, particulate matter, and greenhouse gases. While the agency framed the change as part of a suite of actions to reform New Source […]