US court rejects EPA bid to ease regulations for coal-fired power plants

Source: Reuters

June 26, 2026 10:59 AM EDT Updated 6 hours ago


WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday rejected the Environmental Protection Agency's bid to ​withdraw Biden-era limits on soot pollution from coal-fired power plants and ‌factories, in a setback for the Trump administration's deregulatory efforts.

The EPA under President Donald Trump last year asked the appeals court to invalidate the 2024 rule, arguing ​the agency had acted unreasonably by failing to consider costs while ​setting the standard. The court rejected the petition, leaving the annual ⁠limit of 9 micrograms per cubic meter of fine particulate matter, known ​as PM 2.5, in place.

"After initially defending the new rule, the EPA ​now moves to vacate the rule on the grounds that it exceeded its statutory authority and acted unreasonably by failing to consider costs. Because these arguments lack merit, we ​deny the petitions for review and the motion for vacatur," the ​ruling said.

The EPA under Biden had said the tighter limits would avoid more than 800,000 ‌cases ⁠of asthma symptoms, 2,000 hospital visits and 4,500 premature deaths. But the Trump EPA has said that the 2024 rule costs "hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars to American citizens if allowed to be implemented" and ​was not based on ​a full ⁠review of available science. It said on Friday it was reviewing the decision.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-court-rejects-epa-bid-ease-regulations-coal-fired-power-plants-2026-06-26/