House Passes Bill to Delay EPA Clean Air Rules

The House on Friday passed the first in a planned series of Republican bills to effectively block the Environmental Protection Agency from reining in toxic pollution under the Clean Air Act.

The measure, which passed 233-180, largely along party lines, would delay the EPA from moving forward on a new rule scheduled to be rolled out in November requiring coal plants to slash 90 percent of their mercury emissions. That rule is required under the terms of the 1990 Clean Air Act, and has been delayed for more than 20 years.

The bill also would keep the EPA from moving forward with a rule known as the cross-state air rule, which would require coal plants to limit toxic emissions that cross state lines and contribute to health and environmental damage.