EPA Proposes First Carbon Emissions Limits For Power Plants

On June 2, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its Clean Power Plan, which would impose the first federal limits on carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants in the United States.¹  The proposed rules, which the EPA published pursuant to Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, aim to cut CO2 emissions from power plants by approximately 30% by 2030, using 2005 emissions levels as a baseline.²  The Clean Power Plan is a central component of President Obama's Climate Action Plan, which he announced in June 2013.³

The proposed rules set emissions reductions goals for each state.⁴  The state-specific goals are formulated as rates, which are derived by dividing CO2 emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants (measured in pounds) by state electricity generation from those plants and other certain low- and zero-emitting power sources (measured in megawatt hours).⁵  The level of emissions allowed for each state represents the EPA's determination of