Trump Issues Executive Order on Climate Change

Date: March 28th, 2017

Explanation: Executive Order

Agencies: All, BLM, DOI, EPA

President Trump issued an executive order aimed at at dismantling many of the key actions that have been undertaken at the federal level to address climate change. The order, “Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth”, includes the following components:

Clean Power Plan: 

The order directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to immediate review the Clean Power Plan, which established carbon dioxide (CO2) emission limits for existing fossil fuel-fired power plants, and “if appropriate”, to initiate a new notice-and-comment rulemaking to suspend, revise, or rescind the plan. It also directs the Attorney General to request a stay of the Clean Power Plan litigation while EPA reconsiders the rule.

The order does not specify exactly how EPA should re-write the Clean Power Plan. One possibility is that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt will adopt the framework he recommended when he was working as the Oklahoma Attorney General. Under that framework, EPA would establish emission guidelines that reflect the emissions reductions that can be achieved “inside the fence” at individual power plants (which would include heat rate improvements, but not fuel switching). The states would then promulgate standards that are at least as stringent as those guidelines unless the state determines that circumstances justify the imposition of a less stringent emission standard. In other words, the federal guidelines would be recommendations rather than binding emission standards.

Emission Standards for New Power Plants: 

The order also directs EPA to review the emission standards for new coal-fired power plants and to rescind or rewrite that rule “if appropriate”. The standards promulgated during the Obama Administration reflected EPA’s determination that partial carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) was a viable technology for new coal-fired power plants.  The order also directs the Attorney General to request a stay of the case involving these standards pending EPA’s reconsideration of the rule.

Methane Regulations: 

The order calls for the review (and potential rescission or re-writing) of several regulations aimed at reducing methane emissions from oil and gas operations, including EPA’s new source performance standards for the oil and gas sector and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s methane waste rule (aimed at curbing methane emissions from oil and gas development on federal lands). The order also directs the Attorney General to request a stay of cases involving these rules pending their reconsideration.

Social Cost of Carbon, Methane and Nitrous Oxide: 

The order disbands the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Carbon and rescinds the federal estimates for the social cost of carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide. In the event that federal agencies have to monetize the costs of greenhouse gas regulations, the order specifies that they should follow OMB Circular A-4, which contains general guidelines on how to conduct cost-benefit analysis in rulemakings but does not provide specific direction on how to calculate the costs of greenhouse gas emissions.

Environmental Reviews: 

The order revokes the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)’s guidance on climate change and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews.

Coal Leasing Moratorium and Programmatic EIS: 

The order directs the Department of Interior (DOI) to amend or withdraw Secretarial Order 3338, which called for a programmatic environmental review and modernization of the federal coal leasing program, and to lift the moratorium on federal coal leasing that was called for in that order.

Other Obama-era Plans and Orders: 

The order evokes several additional plans and orders, including:

Reviewing Regulations for Energy Production Impacts: 

The order instructs agencies to “immediately review existing regulations that potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources and appropriately suspend, revise, or rescind those that unduly burden the development of domestic energy resources beyond the degree necessary to protect the public interest or otherwise comply with the law.”

New Source Performance Standards for GHG Emissions from Electric Generating Units

The Clean Air Act requires EPA to establish new source performance standards (NSPS) for new and modified stationary emission sources that cause air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare. In December 2010, EPA entered into a settlement agreement to establish NSPS for GHG emissions from  electric generating units.

In April 2012, EPA proposed NSPS for carbon dioxide emissions from new fossil fuel-fired power plants. The proposed standards under section 111(a) of the Clean Air Act were based on the ‘‘best system of emission reduction’’ (BSER) that EPA had determined to be adequately demonstrated for the emissions source. In January 2014, EPA published its withdrawal of the proposal, followed by a new proposed rule with separate standards for modern natural gas plants (combined-cycle) and other facilities, chiefly coal-fired plants. In June 2014, EPA proposed carbon dioxide emission standards for modified and reconstructed power plants. As with new plants, EPA proposed separate standards for gas- and coal-fired facilities.

In October 2015, EPA published a final rule establishing NSPS for carbon dioxide emissions for both new and modified power plants. For new and reconstructed gas-fired plants, under the BSER standard, EPA set the emission limit at 1,000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt‐hour on a gross‐output basis (lb CO2/MWh‐gross). EPA declined to issue standards for modified natural gas plants, based on a need to gather further information. For new coal plants, EPA set the emission limit at 1,400 lb CO2/MWh‐gross, based upon a BSER that would include some carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). For coal plants making larger modifications, EPA set the carbon dioxide emission limit at the level of the facility’s best historical annual performance during the years from 2002 to the time of modification. EPA declined to set NSPS for coal plants making smaller modifications, based in part upon a need to gather further information. For reconstructed coal plants, EPA set the emission limit at 1,800 lb CO2/MWh‐gross for sources with heat input greater than 2,000 MMBtu/h, and 2,000 lb CO2/MWh‐gross for sources with a heat input of less than or equal to 2,000 MMBtu/h.

In conjunction with the NSPS for carbon dioxide emissions from new, modified, and reconstructed power plants, EPA issued separate regulations under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act applicable to existing power plants.

Litigation: The NSPS was subsequently challenged in North Dakota v. EPA (2015). One of the key issues in the case is whether partial CCS is an adequately demonstrated technology for reducing GHG emissions from coal-fired power plants. The Sabin Center submitted an amicus brief on behalf of eleven CCS experts asserting that the technology is in fact adequately demonstrated and thus the coal NSPS is lawful.

On March 30, 2017, the  D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order to delay oral argument and hold the case in abeyance indefinitely. On August 10, 2017, the court issued another order to continue holding the cases in abeyance pending further action from the administration.

Deregulatory Action: On March 28, 2017, President Trump issued an executive order instructing EPA to review the new source performance standards and to rescind or rewrite the rule as needed to promote the President’s goals of energy independence and economic growth. EPA immediately  submitted a request to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to hold the case in abeyance pending EPA’s reconsideration of the rule.

On April 4, 2017, EPA published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that it is reviewing and, if appropriate will initiate proceedings to suspend, revise or rescind the rue.

Rule Documents:

Other Documents:

Clean Power Plan

Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units

President Obama and EPA announced the final Clean Power Plan rule on August 3, 2015. The rule aims to reduce CO2 emissions from existing power plants by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. To accomplish this, the rule establishes CO2 emission performance rates representing the best system of emission reduction (BSER) for fossil fuel-fired electric utility steam generating units and stationary combustion turbines within each state. States have the flexibility to reach these targets individually or at the regional scale, and to translate the rate-based targets into mass-based targets for compliance purposes. The rule also establishes guidelines for the development, submittal and implementation of state plans to achieve the CO2 emission performance rates.

Rule Documents:

Associated Rule Proposals:

Additional resources below >>

Litigation: Industry groups and states immediately challenged the final rule in West Virginia v. EPA, No.15-1363 (D.C. Cir. 2015).  In February 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the Clean Power Plan pending review in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. In January 2017, State opponents of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan filed a petition for a new lawsuit, asking the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to review EPA’s denial of requests for reconsideration of the rule (which were filed after the rule was finalized but before the Supreme Court stayed its implementation).

 

On April 4, 2017, EPA  submitted a motion to hold the case in abeyance  pending it’s reconsideration of the rule. On April 28, the court granted EPA’s request and ordered a 60-day stay of the litigation as well as supplemental briefings on whether the case should be remanded to the agency rather than held in abeyance. On August 8, the court issued an order prolonging the stay for another 60 days. On November 9, the court indicated that the stay would remain in effect for an additional 60 days.

Deregulatory Actions: On March 28, 2017, President Trump issued an executive order directing EPA to review the Clean Power Plan and to rescind or rewrite the rule as needed to promote the President’s goals of energy independence and economic growth. EPA immediately submitted a request to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to hold the case in abeyance pending EPA’s reconsideration of the rule. On April 4, 2017, EPA published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that it is reviewing and, if appropriate will initiate proceedings to suspend, revise or rescind the rule.

 

The March 2017 executive order also directed EPA to review and rescind or re-write the proposed rule establishing federal implementation plans and model trading rules. On April 3, 2017, EPA officially withdrew that rule proposal as well as the rule proposal establishing details for the Clean Energy Incentive Program (CEIP).

On October 16, 2017, EPA published a proposal to repeal the Clean Power Plan. EPA did not specify whether it would promulgate a new rule, under section 111(d) of the CAA, to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants.

On November 8, 2017, EPA announced that it was extending the comment deadline for the proposed repeal by 32 days to January 16, 2018.

OnDecember 28, 2017, EPA issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to replace the Clean Power Plan in which it solicited comment on what the EPA should include in a potential new rule to regulate GHG emissions from existing power plants under CAA section 111(d).

Effects of Staying and Possibly Rescinding the Plan: If implemented, the Clean Power Plan would reduce carbon pollution from the power sector by 32% in 2030, amounting to 870 million tons less carbon pollution, the equivalent of taking 166 million cars off the road for a year. Climate and public health benefits would reach between $34 and $54 billion annually by 2030 and reduced emissions of toxic air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide would have resulted in the prevention of over 1,500 premature deaths annually. Learn more>>

Additional Clean Power Plan Resources

Fact Sheets:

Technical Support Documents:

Resources for States:

Additional Resources:

New Source Performance Standards for GHG Emissions from Electric Generating Units

The Clean Air Act requires EPA to establish new source performance standards (NSPS) for new and modified stationary emission sources that cause air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare. In December 2010, EPA entered into a settlement agreement to establish NSPS for GHG emissions from  electric generating units.

In April 2012, EPA proposed NSPS for carbon dioxide emissions from new fossil fuel-fired power plants. The proposed standards under section 111(a) of the Clean Air Act were based on the ‘‘best system of emission reduction’’ (BSER) that EPA had determined to be adequately demonstrated for the emissions source. In January 2014, EPA published its withdrawal of the proposal, followed by a new proposed rule with separate standards for modern natural gas plants (combined-cycle) and other facilities, chiefly coal-fired plants. In June 2014, EPA proposed carbon dioxide emission standards for modified and reconstructed power plants. As with new plants, EPA proposed separate standards for gas- and coal-fired facilities.

In October 2015, EPA published a final rule establishing NSPS for carbon dioxide emissions for both new and modified power plants. For new and reconstructed gas-fired plants, under the BSER standard, EPA set the emission limit at 1,000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt‐hour on a gross‐output basis (lb CO2/MWh‐gross). EPA declined to issue standards for modified natural gas plants, based on a need to gather further information. For new coal plants, EPA set the emission limit at 1,400 lb CO2/MWh‐gross, based upon a BSER that would include some carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). For coal plants making larger modifications, EPA set the carbon dioxide emission limit at the level of the facility’s best historical annual performance during the years from 2002 to the time of modification. EPA declined to set NSPS for coal plants making smaller modifications, based in part upon a need to gather further information. For reconstructed coal plants, EPA set the emission limit at 1,800 lb CO2/MWh‐gross for sources with heat input greater than 2,000 MMBtu/h, and 2,000 lb CO2/MWh‐gross for sources with a heat input of less than or equal to 2,000 MMBtu/h.

In conjunction with the NSPS for carbon dioxide emissions from new, modified, and reconstructed power plants, EPA issued separate regulations under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act applicable to existing power plants.

Litigation: The NSPS was subsequently challenged in North Dakota v. EPA (2015). One of the key issues in the case is whether partial CCS is an adequately demonstrated technology for reducing GHG emissions from coal-fired power plants. The Sabin Center submitted an amicus brief on behalf of eleven CCS experts asserting that the technology is in fact adequately demonstrated and thus the coal NSPS is lawful.

On March 30, 2017, the  D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order to delay oral argument and hold the case in abeyance indefinitely. On August 10, 2017, the court issued another order to continue holding the cases in abeyance pending further action from the administration.

Deregulatory Action: On March 28, 2017, President Trump issued an executive order instructing EPA to review the new source performance standards and to rescind or rewrite the rule as needed to promote the President’s goals of energy independence and economic growth. EPA immediately  submitted a request to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to hold the case in abeyance pending EPA’s reconsideration of the rule.

On April 4, 2017, EPA published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that it is reviewing and, if appropriate will initiate proceedings to suspend, revise or rescind the rue.

Rule Documents:

Other Documents: