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The research finds that grandfathering provisions in the U.S. Clean Air Act's New Source Review program created perverse incentives that delayed the retirement of old boilers and increased their operational hours. This regulatory differentiation reduced the probability of a grandfathered boiler retiring by 2.4 percentage points and increased annual operations by approximately 1,150 hours. These effects are estimated to have caused annual societal damages of up to $2.5 billion due to increased SO2 emissions.

The briefing outlines principles for quantifying and valuing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when conducting societal benefit-cost analyses for non-pipeline alternative (NPA) utility projects. It argues that these analyses must account for all upstream and downstream emissions changes and utilize the social cost of GHGs rather than environmental policy compliance costs to determine monetary value, thereby ensuring an accurate comparison between divergent project types.

The document critiques a presidential memorandum and subsequent OMB guidance that direct federal agencies to repeal regulations based on ten Supreme Court decisions. It specifically focuses on five cases involving statutory interpretation—Loper Bright, West Virginia, Michigan v. EPA, Sackett v. EPA, and Ohio v. EPA—asserting that the administration's interpretation of these rulings is too broad and ignores the nuanced principles established by the court.

The Institute for Policy Integrity asserts that the EPA's authority to set greenhouse gas emission standards for power plants is legally sound because the source category was listed in the 1970s. The document contends that power sector emissions meet any reasonable threshold for 'significant contribution' to air pollution, consistent with the EPA's fifty-year historical practice of assessing pollution contributions.

The House Judiciary Committee's 2025 budget reconciliation proposal includes aggressive regulatory reforms, specifically a version of the REINS Act, which would require all existing agency regulations to be approved by Congress within five years or face automatic sunsetting. The document asserts that these measures expand congressional veto power over agency rules, destabilize regulatory frameworks, and violate the Byrd Rule because they are not primarily budgetary.

The Institute for Policy Integrity criticizes a May 5 OIRA memorandum that instructs federal agencies to stop monetizing climate impacts, arguing that the social cost of greenhouse gases (SC-GHG) remains a valid tool despite uncertainties.

The Institute for Policy Integrity recommends that the EEA-C ITWG align environmental-economic accounting classifications with practical stakeholder use cases and increase transparency regarding data, code, and methods to encourage business adoption. Specific technical suggestions include expanding Forest accounts to distinguish between native and non-native forests and monoculture versus diverse plantations, adding plastic pollution to Water accounts, and incorporating measures of uncertainty to avoid misleading estimates.

The report identifies barriers to meaningful public participation in Public Utility Commission proceedings and proposes five key opportunities for states to improve procedural justice, including better public education, clearer participation guidance, increased funding for staff and intervenor compensation, enhanced data transparency, and greater community input on equity policies.

The document outlines the requirements of FERC Order No. 1920, which mandates that transmission providers develop at least three diverse Long-Term Scenarios over a 20-year horizon to plan electric transmission. It emphasizes that state participation is critical for these scenarios to accurately reflect state policies and priorities, particularly within the PJM Interconnection LLC.

The research examines how CCUS deployment in the U.S. power sector affects air pollution and energy costs, finding that the outcomes depend on the underlying policy and that Black and low-income populations experience the most significant impacts.

The report summarizes a survey of 699 CDR researchers, finding that while experts predict multi-gigaton-scale removal by 2050, they identify market costs and policy gaps as primary barriers. Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) and forest-based methods are expected to provide the largest shares of removal by 2075, with forest-based removal being the most cost-effective. Despite predicting a need for over 12 Gt of CDR to reach net-zero by 2075, respondents project actual removal levels to be significantly lower, suggesting a gap between necessity and expected implementation.

The brief defends the EPA's use of the 'best system of emission reduction' (BSER) to mandate carbon capture and storage (CCS) for certain fossil-fuel-fired power plants. It argues that the phrase 'adequately demonstrated' in Section 111 of the Clean Air Act does not require a technology to be widely deployed, citing federal court precedents and legislative history to support the 'technology-forcing' nature of the Act. The document further asserts that this interpretation would remain valid regardless of potential changes to Chevron deference.

The document examines the EPA's proposed use of hydrogen co-firing to set CO2 emission limits for fossil fuel-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act. It warns that unless the hydrogen used is 'low-GHG', the process could increase total emissions, as common production methods like steam methane reforming or fossil-fuel-powered electrolysis release significant greenhouse gases.

The document examines the application of the major questions doctrine in lower federal courts, arguing that the doctrine lacks a clear framework and is being applied inconsistently, often aligning with the political affiliations of the judges' appointing presidents.

The document critiques the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) current method of approving interstate natural gas pipelines based primarily on private precedent agreements rather than regional need. It argues that this approach leads to unnecessary infrastructure and higher costs, especially as electrification increases due to climate change. The authors contend that FERC has the legal authority under the Natural Gas Act to implement regional planning, similar to how it regulates electricity transmission, to ensure more efficient and just rates.

The document argues that a cost-effective clean energy transition requires a paradigm shift in transmission planning, moving away from historical reactive models toward holistic planning that accounts for evolving energy systems and climate change uncertainties.

The brief analyzes the impact of a revised 2% default discount rate from the Office of Management and Budget and updated social cost of greenhouse gas valuations from the Environmental Protection Agency, finding that current federal practices vastly undercount the benefits of significant regulations.

The document argues that FERC's Transmission Rulemaking and Draft Policy Statements do not trigger the major questions doctrine under the West Virginia v. EPA framework because they are not 'unheralded' or 'transformative'. However, it warns that Justice Gorsuch's concurring opinion, which suggests that intrusion into state law domains could trigger the doctrine, has led 17 states to challenge FERC's authority by citing the jurisdictional divide in the Federal Power Act and Natural Gas Act.

The paper highlights how information disparities—specifically regarding distribution networks and emission rates—hinder the effective policymaking and economic efficiency of distributed energy resource (DER) compensation schemes. It suggests that regulators must implement tailored disclosure mandates and incentives for utilities to overcome these asymmetries.

The paper contends that particulate matter emissions cause significant health crises—including up to 200,000 annual deaths—which disproportionately affect communities of color and low-income individuals. It criticizes the EPA for failing to strengthen National Ambient Air Quality Standards and for not enforcing sanctions on states in nonattainment. However, it identifies the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 reopening of the particulate matter standards review, and the Biden administration's focus on equity as potential catalysts for change.