EPA Set to Repeal Power-Plant Carbon Rules in Houston
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is poised to formally repeal carbon pollution standards for coal- and gas-fired power plants. The Guardian
The action is expected as soon as Monday, 14 September 2026, on the sidelines of the G20 energy ministers' meeting in Houston, Texas. Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, that the repeal was expected as soon as Monday. The New York Times reported that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is expected to announce the move in Houston.
According to Bloomberg, the EPA is finalizing this week a piece of its initial proposal to repeal power-plant pollution rules. Officials also plan to propose a separate rule repealing the federal finding that greenhouse gases from power plants specifically pose a threat. The two-track structure matters. One track would unwind the operative emission standards. The other would remove the predicate finding for regulating those emissions from that source category.
The standards at issue were passed under Joe Biden to curb emissions of carbon dioxide, mercury and other air pollutants from power plants. The Biden carbon emission rules for power plants would have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 1bn metric tons by 2047. The electricity sector is responsible for nearly a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution.
The regulatory history is layered. On April 25, 2024, the EPA finalized rules to reduce pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants. EPA Those rules built on earlier new-source performance standards. In 2015, the agency issued final regulations to limit GHG emissions from new fossil fuel-fired utility boilers and from natural gas-fired stationary combustion turbines. EPA
On June 11, 2025, Zeldin proposed to repeal all greenhouse gas emissions standards for the power sector under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act. EPA This week's expected action would finalize a piece of that proposal.
It follows a parallel rollback for vehicles. In February 2026, the EPA rescinded the 2009 Endangerment Finding and repealed all annual motor vehicle greenhouse gas standards. Reuters That repeal effort targeted vehicle emission standards, not power-plant standards. Reuters The new power-sector finding proposal would address that remaining category directly.
Opposition is already defined. Holly Bender, the Sierra Club's chief program officer, said the Sierra Club "will fight the proposal in the courts, in Congress, and in communities across the country."
The venue is deliberate. Announcing finalization of domestic power-sector rules at a G20 energy ministerial puts U.S. regulatory direction in front of major producing and consuming states. It also tests how Washington frames baseload reliability, fuel choice and emissions control to counterparts pursuing different mixes.
The broader context here is legal durability rather than immediate emissions arithmetic. A Section 111 repeal without a replacement standard shifts compliance obligations off existing and new units, but the separate source-specific endangerment proposal is the load-bearing piece for future rulemakings. If the finding that power-plant greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare is withdrawn for that sector, subsequent administrations would need to rebuild the predicate before re-regulating. If it survives judicial review, the repeal stands on narrower statutory interpretation. If it does not, the standards question reopens.
For practitioners, the sequence to watch is Federal Register publication, effective dates, and petitions for review. Expect challenges over the administrative record for the 2024 rules, the scope of Section 111 authority, and whether a source-specific finding can be separated from the 2009 economy-wide determination already rescinded. Congressional review, appropriations riders and state-level actions will run in parallel, but the D.C. Circuit will likely determine the timeline.
