A US appeals court on Tuesday overturned a key Obama administration rule to reduce harmful emissions from coal-burning power plants, sparking a rally in coal company shares and relief among utility firms. The US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in a 2-1 decision that the Environmental Protection Agency had exceeded its mandate with the rule, which was to limit sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants in 28 mostly Eastern states and Texas.
In the latest setback for the EPA, the court sent the rule back for revision, telling the agency to administer its existing Clean Air Interstate Rule in the interim. The ruling will likely be cheered by Republicans, who have made the EPA and President Barack Obama's environmental policies a main campaign theme ahead of November elections. The agency is endangering a fragile economic recovery by saddling US industries with costly new rules, Republicans say. Power groups, which had argued that they could not meet the timeframe or bear the financial burden of installing costly new equipment, welcomed the court's decision.
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