A coalition of states and cities has filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over the agency's decision to eliminate a rule that limits greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, according to WesternSlopeNow.com.

The lawsuit challenges the EPA's repeal under the Trump administration of emissions standards that applied to fossil-fuel-fired generation — the sector that remains the largest single source of carbon dioxide output in the U.S. power mix and a key supplier of the electricity that drives metals recycling operations, electric-arc furnace steelmaking and secondary aluminum smelting.

For the recycling industry, the regulatory fight matters on two fronts. First, the repealed rule was the principal federal mechanism pushing utilities toward retirements of older coal-fired units, a trend that has reshaped the scrap-energy relationship: EAF steelmaking, which runs on recycled feedstock and grid electricity, gains competitive ground as coal-fired blast furnace capacity closes. Second, emissions rules influence the pace at which grid electricity decarbonizes, which in turn affects the carbon footprint claims that recycled-metal producers attach to their products.

The litigation, filed in federal court, argues that the EPA's repeal was unlawful and asks the court to restore the emissions limits. The plaintiffs — state attorneys general and city legal officers — contend the agency failed to justify scrapping standards it had previously defended as required under the Clean Air Act.

The EPA under the current administration has moved to unwind multiple Obama- and Biden-era regulations, positioning the agency as favoring fuel choice for utilities over mandated emissions caps. Agency officials have argued the repealed rule imposed excessive costs on generators and threatened grid reliability.

Environmental and industry observers are watching the case as a test of how far a sitting administration can go in reversing predecessor-era rules that have already survived earlier legal challenges. The outcome will shape the emissions compliance horizon for utilities — and, by extension, the carbon accounting that scrap processors and EAF-based steelmakers rely on when marketing recycled material to buyers with sustainability procurement requirements.

The court has yet to set a briefing schedule. A ruling on the merits, or a referral to the Supreme Court if the panel decision splinters, will determine whether the emissions limits return to force — and whether the utility retirement timeline that scrap-consuming industries have priced into capacity planning stays on track.