Attorney General Jennifer Davenport joined a 25-member coalition challenging the EPA’s September repeal.
TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey has joined a multistate lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s rollback of federal greenhouse gas limits for fossil-fuel power plants, opening another major court battle over the reach of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Attorney General Jennifer Davenport joined a coalition of 25 states, counties and cities Thursday in filing a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, according to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. The coalition is asking the court to overturn EPA’s repeal and restore portions of the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards.
The legal challenge comes after EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin finalized a partial repeal Sept. 14 of the 2024 standards and simultaneously proposed eliminating the remaining federal greenhouse gas standards for fossil-fuel power plants. EPA says the changes will reduce regulatory costs and support reliable energy supplies.
New Jersey Challenges EPA’s September Repeal
The 2024 standards placed greenhouse gas requirements on several categories of new and existing coal- and natural gas-fired power plants.
EPA’s Sept. 14 action repealed much of those requirements, including emission guidelines affecting existing coal-, oil- and gas-fired steam generating units and certain carbon-capture-based standards. The agency also proposed rescinding remaining greenhouse gas regulations for the power sector under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act.
EPA estimates its finalized repeal will save approximately $310 billion in regulatory costs. The agency argues the previous standards imposed unrealistic timelines and costs and maintains that greenhouse gas emissions from individual U.S. power plants have too indirect a relationship to global climate effects to support the broader regulatory framework it is seeking to unwind.
New Jersey and the other plaintiffs dispute that legal and policy rationale.
“Climate change is becoming a more pressing problem each year, yet the Trump Administration is choosing to protect the fossil fuel industry instead of public health,” Davenport said in the state’s announcement. “We are running out of time to reverse worsening climate trends, which is why we are suing today.”
Coalition Also Signals Second EPA Lawsuit
The coalition argues EPA unlawfully abandoned the 2024 standards without adequately accounting for alternatives, health effects and climate impacts, according to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. Those arguments will now be tested in federal court.
New Jersey also joined a notice of intent to sue EPA over the agency’s handling of greenhouse gas emissions from certain existing natural-gas-fired power plants.
The states contend EPA has failed to establish required limits for those facilities, including “peaker” plants that operate during periods of high electricity demand. EPA’s position, meanwhile, is that Congress did not authorize the agency to regulate power-sector greenhouse gases in the manner contemplated by the previous rules.
The lawsuit was led by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Participants include attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, along with Pennsylvania’s governor and officials representing New York City, Chicago and Denver.
Court Fight Will Decide Fate of Repealed Rules
The petition asks the D.C. Circuit to review EPA’s finalized repeal. The separate notice concerning existing gas-fired plants is a procedural step that could lead to additional litigation.
EPA’s broader proposal to rescind the remaining greenhouse gas standards for fossil-fuel power plants has not yet completed the rulemaking process. The agency said that proposal would go through a public hearing and comment period.
That leaves two related disputes moving on different tracks: a court challenge to rules EPA has already repealed and an administrative fight over additional greenhouse gas regulations the agency is proposing to eliminate.
