The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Sept. 14 repealed most Biden-era carbon emissions standards for coal- and gas-fired power plants and proposed eliminating remaining federal greenhouse gas requirements for the power sector.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the actions during a meeting of G20 energy ministers in Houston. The Biden-era standards required certain coal-fired power plants and new natural gas plants to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, including through carbon capture and storage technology. Carbon capture and storage involves capturing carbon dioxide before it enters the atmosphere and storing it underground.

The EPA said the proposed repeal of the remaining standards would save the power industry $370 million in compliance costs over 20 years. Zeldin said the changes would make it easier to build generating capacity as electricity demand increases. Zeldin said, "That means cutting red tape so we can build new power-generating infrastructure."

The agency also proposed rescinding remaining greenhouse gas requirements for power plants based on its position that the Clean Air Act does not authorize the EPA to regulate the power sector's greenhouse gas emissions. That proposal would affect the legal basis for future federal carbon regulations covering power plants.

The EPA's actions remove most federal carbon requirements from a sector that accounts for nearly one-quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and propose eliminating the remaining requirements. The Biden administration estimated its power plant standards would prevent one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions through 2047 and produce $370 billion in net benefits.

The repeal reduces federal compliance requirements for power companies, but state emissions rules will remain in effect. National Mining Association President and CEO Rich Nolan said the repeal "corrects the egregious misuse of the Clean Air Act as a political tool to end American coal generation and implements the law as Congress intended."

Environmental groups opposed the changes and said they would increase greenhouse gas emissions and associated health and environmental costs. Center for Biological Diversity Climate Law Institute attorney Maggie Coulter said, "Denying the existence of a quarter of the country's climate pollution is utterly reckless. It will lead to more lost lives and suffering from intense heatwaves, drastic storms and destructive wildfires, just like those we've seen this summer."

The Biden administration adopted the power plant carbon standards in 2024. The Trump administration proposed repealing them in June 2025 as part of a broader reconsideration of federal regulations covering fossil-fuel power plants.

President Donald Trump (R) and the EPA separately rescinded the 2009 endangerment finding in February 2026. The finding had concluded that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare and provided the legal foundation for federal greenhouse gas regulations covering motor vehicles. The administration also repealed federal vehicle greenhouse gas standards tied to that finding.

A coalition of 25 state attorneys general and other state and local officials sued the EPA in March 2026 to challenge the rescission. The plaintiffs argue the EPA's action violates the Clean Air Act and conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court precedent. The case remains pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The EPA based that February action on its interpretation that the Clean Air Act does not authorize the agency to regulate greenhouse gases based on global climate effects. The Sept. 14 power-sector proposal would further limit the agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

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