White House Completing Review of Climate Change Rule for Power Plants

The Trump administration is studying an Environmental Protection Agency review of former President Barack Obama's climate change rule for power plants, The Hill reported.

The White House is expected to seek a full repeal of the rule known as the Clean Power Plan, the website noted, and President Donald Trump had vowed to repeal the rule during the campaign.

The EPA's review of the rule is being looked at by the White House's Office of Management and Budget. It is the last step before the EPA can release it publicly and start taking required public comments, according to The Hill.

The Clean Power Plan sought a 32 percent cut in the power sector's carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, through individual emissions goals assigned to each state based on its power mix and ability to reduce pollution, the website noted.

Trump had signed an executive order in March calling for a review of the Clean Power Plan as part of a lengthy legal process of withdrawing or rewriting it, The New York Times reported.

The Clean Power Plan would close hundreds of coal-fired power plants and replace them with new wind and solar farms, according to the newspaper.

EPA head Scott Pruitt said last month that it is "yet to be determined" whether the EPA will seek to replace the Clean Power Plan with another climate regulation, The Hill said.

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