in effect
This is a presidential proclamation (Proclamation 10914, signed April 8, 2025) issued under the Clean Air Act that grants a two-year compliance exemption to specific coal- and oil-fired power plants. It uses authority under Section 112(i)(4) of the Clean Air Act, which allows the President to exempt stationary sources from hazardous air pollutant standards on grounds of technology unavailability or national security.
The EPA published a stricter version of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) in May 2024, with a compliance deadline of July 8, 2027. This proclamation delays that deadline by two years — to July 8, 2029 — for the specific facilities listed in Annex I (provided as graphics in the Federal Register). During that two-year window, those facilities must comply only with the older, less stringent MATS requirements that were in place before the 2024 update. The stated basis is that the emissions-control technology required by the 2024 rule does not yet exist in commercially viable form, and that forcing compliance would risk plant shutdowns and harm to grid reliability.
Operators of the coal- and oil-fired power plants named in Annex I gain two additional years before they must meet the stricter 2024 emissions limits, reducing near-term compliance costs and removing the immediate shutdown risk the proclamation describes. Communities near those facilities, environmental regulators, and utilities that purchase power from those plants are also affected, as the timeline for reduced hazardous air pollutant emissions from those sources is extended.