[BoulderCouncilHotline] D.C. appeals court strikes down ACE Rule

[Koehn, Jonathan]

Dear Council and HOTLINE subscribers,

I wanted to share some important updates on the city's participation in national efforts to curb power plant emissions that significantly contribute to global climate change.

D.C. appeals court strikes down ACE Rule

Boulder is a part of a coalition that sued over efforts to repeal and replace the Clean Power Plan

This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down<https://bouldercolorado.gov/links/fetch/51388> a Trump administration coal power plant rule replacement that would have limited regulation of carbon emissions from power plants. The court found that the EPA's Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule failed to provide adequate environmental and public health protections. The rule was the Trump Administration's attempt to replace the Clean Power Plan, the first-ever nationwide limits on existing fossil-fueled power plants, one of the largest sources of climate change pollution. The ACE rule would have rolled back the Clean Power Plan limits, prolonging the nation's reliance on polluting, expensive coal power plants, and obstructing progress of states toward clean, renewable and affordable electricity generation.

This ruling is a victory for the City of Boulder and a coalition of cities and states led by the New York Attorney General to challenge the implementation of the ACE rule. Boulder joined The city joined a coalition of 22 states and eight cities and counties to defend the CPP from legal challenges in 2016, and the litigation challenging the final ACE rule in 2019.

Coal and gas-fired power plants together emit more CO2 than any other category of emissions sources in the U.S. and have been the subject of several federal-level rules since 2015. The appeals court ruling remands rulemaking to the EPA, opening the door for the Biden administration to restore tougher regulations on electricity generation sector-wide.

Clean Power Plan and ACE rule background
In 2015, the EPA issued the final Clean Power Plan (CPP) to reduce climate changing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing coal- and gas-fired electric power plants. The CPP was projected to reduce power plant CO2 emissions by 32% from 2005 levels by 2030.

In 2017, President Trump issued an executive order mandating EPA review of the CPP and announced a formal process to repeal the CPP. In 2019, the EPA proposed a new rule aimed at repealing the Clean Power Plan and loosening efforts to regulate the electricity generation sector. This rule was called the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule.

City joins challenge to additional Trump GHG regulation rules

Also this week, the City of Boulder joined a coalition of 27 cities and states to challenge a last-minute Trump administration rule that seeks to limit the regulation of GHG emissions from stationary sources. This lawsuit<https://bouldercolorado.gov/links/fetch/51393> is led by the California Attorney General.

The surprise EPA rule creates a new, arbitrary threshold to guide whether the Clean Air Act can regulate certain industries. Under the new rule, an industry must emit at least 3% of total U.S. emissions to be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
The city participates regularly in multi-jurisdiction coalitions to support and defend key climate regulations at the federal level. For more information on the city's federal policy priorities, please review the city's 2021 Policy Statement<https://www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/2021_Policy_Statement.Approved-1-202011191743.pdf?_ga=2.87228127.657170791.1611077875-973211658.1553781849>.

Sincerely,

Jonathan

Jonathan Koehn
Interim Director
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Climate Initiatives Department
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