In what was likely a shock to coal-fired electric utilities, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held on June 28, 2024, that proposed decisions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in January 2022—prohibiting coal-fired power plants from closing coal ash impoundments where coal ash is in contact with groundwater—were a “straightforward application” of a previously promulgated agency rule. In Electric Energy, Inc. v. Environmental Protection Agency, the appeals court validated EPA’s actions as a proper exercise of authority. This ruling ends (at least for now) a regulatory odyssey that began in 2015.
