By Andrew Chung, John Kruzel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to suspend new federal air pollution rules from President Joe Biden’s administration to tighten limits on mercury and methane, responding to challenges brought by a group of states – most of them Republican-led — and industry groups.
The justices have rejected emergency requests from states, as well as energy and mining, oil and gas companies, to halt Environmental Protection Agency rules while lawsuits continue in lower courts.
The regulations, issued under the landmark Clean Air Act anti-pollution law, aim to reduce emissions of mercury and other metals from coal-fired power plants, as well as methane and other gases known as volatile organic compounds from oil and gas production .
The mercury rule tightened toxic metal emissions limits for all coal-fired power plants by 67% and tightened mercury emissions limits from lignite power plants by 70%.
The methane rule limited flaring – the burning of excess methane during oil and gas production – and required oil companies to monitor for leaks from well sites and compressor stations. It also created a new program to detect and report large methane emissions from so-called “superemitters.”
The challengers argue that the EPA has exceeded its authority by issuing unwarranted regulations that threaten America’s electricity supply and usurp the role of states in setting emissions standards.
The regulations would benefit public health and the climate, the EPA said.
The mercury rule reduces the risk of heart attacks and cancer caused by such pollutants, as well as developmental delays in children, while reining in methane, which has a greater warming potential than carbon dioxide and breaks down more quickly in the atmosphere, could have a greater effect. immediate impact on mitigating climate change, the EPA said.
Challengers, including the states, fossil fuel industry groups, and energy, mining, and oil and gas companies, have filed multiple lawsuits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which denied requests in July and August to dismiss the to suspend regulations pending its review.
The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has limited the EPA’s powers in several major rulings in recent years.
In June, the court blocked the EPA’s “Good Neighbor” rule, which aims to reduce ozone emissions, which can worsen air pollution in neighboring countries. In 2023, the court hampered the EPA’s power to protect wetlands and combat water pollution. In 2022, it imposed limits on the agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act to reduce carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants.
