DC Circuit rebuffs first attempt to stop Biden power plant rule

By Pamela King | 05/17/2024 01:21 PM EDT

The court could still halt the regulation at a later date.

D.C. Circuit

The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse is home to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Francis Chung/E&E News

This story was updated May 20.

A federal appeals court Friday refused to halt one of the Biden administration’s signature climate regulations but could choose to block the rule at a later date.

In a short, unsigned order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a request from Republican-led states and electric cooperatives to immediately stop EPA’s power plant rule from taking effect and set a schedule for additional motions to stay the regulation.

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If they are unsuccessful at the D.C. Circuit, opponents of the new rule to control climate pollution from the power sector are expected to take their stay request to the Supreme Court, which in 2016 granted a then-unprecedented stay of an earlier version of EPA’s regulation, the Obama-era Clean Power Plan.

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