WASHINGTON– Coal-fired power plants would be forced to capture smokestack emissions or shut down under a rule issued Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants are the Biden administration’s most ambitious effort yet to reduce planet-warming pollution from the energy sector, the second-largest contributor to change. climate of the country. The rules are a key part of President Joe Biden’s commitment to eliminate carbon pollution from the power sector by 2035 and from the entire economy by 2050.

The rule was among four measures targeting coal and natural gas plants that the EPA said would provide “regulatory certainty” to the electric industry and encourage it to make investments to transition “to a clean energy economy.” The measures include requirements to reduce toxic pollutants from wastewater from coal-fired plants and safely manage coal ash in unlined storage ponds.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the rules will reduce pollution and improve public health, while supporting the reliable, long-term supply of electricity the United States needs.

“One of the greatest environmental challenges facing our nation is the man-made pollution that harms our air, our water and our land,” Regan said in a speech at Howard University. “This pollution is not only a major threat to public health, but also pushing our planet to the brink.”

Regan called the power plant rules “a defining moment” for his agency as it works to “build a cleaner, healthier future for all of us.”

The plan is likely to be challenged by industry groups and Republican-leaning states. They have repeatedly accused the Democratic administration of overreaching on environmental regulations and have warned of a looming reliability crisis for the electric grid. The rules issued Thursday are among at least a half-dozen EPA rules that limit power plant emissions and wastewater pollution.

Environmental groups hailed the EPA’s latest action as urgently needed to protect against the devastating harms of climate change.

The power plant rule marks the first time the federal government has restricted carbon dioxide emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. The rule would also force future coal- or gas-fired power plants to control up to 90% of their carbon pollution. The new standards will prevent 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution through 2047, equivalent to the annual emissions of 328 million gasoline-powered cars, the EPA said, and provide hundreds of billions of dollars in climate and health benefits, measured in fewer premature deaths. cases of asthma and days lost from work or school.

Coal plants that plan to stay open beyond 2039 would have to reduce or capture 90% of their carbon dioxide emissions by 2032, the EPA said. Plants hoping to retire by 2039 would face a less stringent standard, but would still have to capture some emissions. Coal plants that will stop operating in 2032 would not be subject to the new rules.

Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association, said that through the latest rules, “EPA is systematically dismantling the reliability of America’s electric grid.”

He accused Biden, Regan and other officials of “ignoring our energy reality and forcing the closure of well-functioning coal plants that repeatedly come to the rescue during times of peak demand.” “All Americans will feel the repercussions of this reckless plan across the country.”

Regan denied that the rules were aimed at shutting down the coal sector, but acknowledged, when proposing the power plant rule last year, that “we will see some coal retirements.”

The proposal is based on technologies to limit carbon pollution that the industry itself has said are viable and available, Regan said. “Several power companies have indicated that (carbon capture and storage) is a viable technology for the power sector today, and they are currently pursuing those CCS projects,” she told reporters on Wednesday.

Coal provided about 16% of U.S. electricity last year, up from about 45% in 2010. Natural gas provides about 43% of U.S. electricity, with the rest coming from nuclear power and renewables like wind, solar and hydroelectric.

Dan Brouillette, president and CEO of the Edison Electric Institute, which represents American investor-owned electric companies, said he was “disappointed” that the EPA “did not address the concerns we raised about carbon capture and storage.” The technology is “not yet ready for large-scale deployment across the economy,” said Brouillette, who served as energy secretary in President Donald Trump’s administration.

The rules initially included measures to curb emissions from existing natural gas plants, but Regan delayed that aspect of the rules until at least next year, saying he wanted to address complaints from environmental justice groups that the previous plan allowed too much toxic air pollution that disproportionately harms low-income neighborhoods near power plants, refineries, and other industrial sites.

Still, the rules issued Thursday complete “a historic coup” of important actions by the Biden administration to reduce carbon pollution, said David Doniger, a climate and clean energy expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council. The first and most important action was He said the passage of the 2022 climate law, officially known as the Inflation Reduction Act, followed by separate EPA rules targeting car and truck tailpipe emissions and methane emissions from oil and gas drilling.

Together, the climate law and the EPA’s set of rules “are the largest reductions in carbon pollution we have ever achieved and will put the country on the path to zero carbon emissions,” Doniger said.

The nation still faces challenges in decarbonizing transportation, heavy industry and more, said Abigail Dillen, president of the environmental group Earthjustice, “but we can’t make progress on any of that without cleaning up power plants.”

Jim Matheson, executive director of the National Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives, called the EPA rule “illegal, unrealistic and unachievable” and added that it faced some court challenge. The rule ignores the 2022 Supreme Court decision that limited the agency’s ability to regulate carbon pollution. under the Clean Air Act, Matheson said.

“This barrage of new EPA rules ignores our nation’s current electric reliability challenges and is the wrong approach at a critical time for our nation’s energy future,” said Matheson, whose association represents 900 local electric cooperatives across the country. the country.

The EPA rules would not require the use of equipment to capture and store carbon emissions, a technology that is expensive and still being developed. Instead, the agency would set limits on carbon dioxide pollution that plant operators would have to meet. Some natural gas plants could begin blending gas with other fuel sources that do not emit carbon, although specific actions would be left to the industry.

Still, the regulation is expected to lead to greater use of carbon capture equipment. Despite years of research, only a handful of projects are operating in the country.

The EPA also tightened rules aimed at reducing wastewater pollution from coal-fired power plants and preventing damage from toxic pits of coal ash, a residual byproduct of burning coal.

Coal ash contains carcinogens such as arsenic and mercury that can leach into soil, drinking water, and nearby rivers and streams, harming people and killing fish. Waste is usually stored in ponds near power plants. The EPA issued rules in 2015 to regulate new and active ponds at operating facilities, seven years after a disaster in Kingston, Tennessee, that flooded two rivers with toxic waste and destroyed property.

Environmental groups challenged that rule, arguing that it left a large amount of coal ash waste unregulated by the federal government. The rule issued Thursday requires owners to safely close inactive coal ash ponds and clean up pollution.

A separate rule will reduce toxic wastewater pollution by 660 million pounds a year, according to federal officials. It’s a reversal of the Republican Trump administration’s push to relax coal plant wastewater standards.

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This story has been corrected to show that the last name of the executive director of the Edison Electric Institute is Brouillette, not Brouilette.

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Associated Press writer Michael Phillis in St. Louis contributed to this report.

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