Power plant operators and environmentalists are at odds over whether EPA has threshold legal authority under section 111 (d) of the Clean Air Act to update its standards for methane and other emissions at existing municipal landfills, a precedent-setting dispute that could also determine whether the agency will eventually be able to update its existing power plant greenhouse gas standards. In recent comments on the proposed landfill rule update, the Utility Air Regulatory Group (UARG) charges that "the Agency lacks authority under the [Clean Air Act] to revise the emission guidelines to make them more stringent." The group says that while Congress provided explicit authority for EPA to strengthen standards for new sources under section 111(b), lawmakers failed to provide similar authority for existing source standards under section 11(d).
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