Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin announced Wednesday that the agency would aim to undo former President Joe Biden’s regulations limiting carbon and toxic emissions from fossil fuel power plants, a major deregulatory undertaking that would undo one of the most significant policies meant to address climate change.

“Both proposed rules, if finalized, would deliver savings to American families on electricity bills, and it will ensure that they have the electricity that they need today,” Zeldin said at a press conference on Wednesday. “EPA is taking an important step, reclaiming sanity and sound policy, illustrating that we can both protect the environment and grow the economy.” 

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The rules in question were finalized last April by the Biden administration. They set a series of standards for fossil fuel power plants, requiring new and existing power plants to reduce carbon pollution by installing carbon capture and sequestration and storage technology and to limit the release of other toxic substances, like mercury.

Zeldin argued that the Biden standards sought to regulate coal, oil, and gas out of existence. 

The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs completed its review of the EPA’s repeal proposal on Friday. Zeldin’s announcement is part of the agency’s plan to repeal a slew of climate-related rules finalized during the Biden administration. 

Zeldin was joined by Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), House Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Reps. Troy Balderson (R-OH), Carol Miller (R-WV), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Rob Bresnahan (R-PA), Michael Rulli (R-OH), and Riley Moore (R-WV) at the EPA’s headquarters in D.C. 

Regulations on carbon emissions from power plants have been subject to a regulatory tug of war since former President Barack Obama. The Obama administration’s rule on power plant pollution was stayed by the Supreme Court. The first Trump administration proposed a narrow rule, but the D.C. Circuit Court later deemed it illegal just before Biden entered office.

During the Biden administration, the Supreme Court limited the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon emissions in West Virginia v EPA. The Biden administration later finalized a new regulation on carbon pollutants for power plants, tailoring it to comply with the high court ruling. However, the Trump EPA is now taking action to repeal the rule.

Fossil fuel power plants are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, contributing 5% of total global emissions since 1990.

Natural Resources Defense Council CEO Manish Bapna said in a statement that “power plants are the largest industrial source of carbon emissions, spewing more than 1.5 billion tons of greenhouse gases annually.” 

The EPA’s proposed rule will likely spur legal challenges from environmentalists.

First, though, the proposed rule will undergo the rulemaking process, beginning with a public comment period. 

“Ignoring the immense harm to public health from power plant pollution is a clear violation of the law. Our lawyers will be watching closely, and if the EPA finalizes a slapdash effort to repeal those rules, we’ll see them in court,” Bapna said. 

The EPA aims to repeal the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for coal-fired power plants, which imposes a 67% reduction in toxic metal emissions and a 70% cut in mercury emissions from lignite-fired sources.

In April, Trump extended the compliance deadline for the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards by two years, from 2027 to 2029, citing national security concerns and a lack of technological availability. 

Manufacturers praised the EPA’s action, as they had previously warned that the Biden rule would jeopardize the stability of the electric grid.

“The EPA’s decision to repeal the unworkable power plant rule for existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants is a critical and welcome step toward rebalanced regulations and American energy dominance,” National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons said. “This change will strengthen grid reliability and support manufacturing growth in the United States.”