The Senate on Tuesday rejected a bid by the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee to repeal an EPA rule allowing more smog-forming pollution from Indiana’s power sector.
On a 51-47 party-line vote, lawmakers blocked further action on S.J. Res. 60, a Congressional Review Act resolution introduced in June by EPW ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) did not vote.
The bill would have scrapped the interim final rule issued by EPA this spring that raised the cap on emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from coal-fired Indiana plants during the summertime ozone season, which runs from May through September.
The agency attributed that decision both to delays in two previously planned plant retirements and the fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision last year to stay EPA’s latest “good neighbor” plan.
