States file additional challenge to EPA emissions power plant rule

The 23 states that are challenging a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s rule requiring existing power plants to reduce carbon dioxide admissions filed an additional legal challenge Tuesday challenging a similar rule related to new power plants.

Indiana joined 22 other states in asking a federal court to set aside the rule published in October that limits the carbon dioxide admissions that any new power plants or newly modified plants could produce in the future. This law took effect Oct. 23 when it was published in the Federal Register.

The states want the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington, D.C., to determine whether the EPA overstepped its authority under Section 111(b) of the Clean Air Act in implementing a rule that Congress did not approve or intend.

The states already filed a legal challenge to a similar rule that took effect Oct. 23 that affects existing power plants already in operation. In that petition for review, the states contend the EPA overstepped its authority under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. It requires plants to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by an average of 32 percent nationwide from 2005 levels by the year 2030. In Indiana, the rule requires reductions of 30 to 38 percent by 2030.