16 states set to sue EPA Friday

By , John Siciliano

Published December 20, 2015

The attorneys general of 16 states led by West Virginia said they will be suing the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday over the agency's emission rules for power plants.

The decision came Thursday after the EPA told reporters that it would publish its suite of emission rules for power plants, including the Clean Power Plan, in the Friday edition of the Federal Register. Publication of the rules makes them law, and therefore challengeable in federal appeals court.

West Virginia's attorney general's office confirmed Thursday that the legal challenge will come Friday morning, and that states, after hearing the news, were scrambling to put together announcements and coordinate a joint press conference Friday morning.

The states are opposed to the Clean Power Plan, which requires states to reduce their emissions by a third by 2030. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's state of Kentucky is part of the suit, which says the rules are an example of gross federal overreach and an affront to states' rights and the Constitution.