EPA Proposes To Rescind Clean Power Plan

What EPA Did

In a decision expected and promised since the election of President Donald Trump, the United States Environmental Protection Agency proposed on October 16, 2017, to rescind the Clean Power Plan based on a revised interpretation of EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act provisions that originally were used to authorize the Clean Power Plan.

In the Clean Power Plan, and pursuant to the Agency's authority under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, EPA established guidelines for carbon emission reductions at existing power plants based on the "best system of emissions reduction." The guidelines were based on the assumed ability to shift electricity generation from coal-fired units to gas-fired units and renewable generation. In its new proposal, EPA concludes that these Clean Power Plan guidelines are inconsistent with its revised interpretation of "best system of emissions reduction" which is "limited to emission reduction measures that can be applied