CHEYENNE – Governor Mark Gordon announced that Wyoming has filed an additional lawsuit challenging a new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) targeting the coal industry.
Wyoming has joined West Virginia and Georgia along with 19 other states challenging EPA’s new steam electric power generating effluent guidelines. The rule was part of a package of rules affecting power plants the EPA released in late April. EPA’s rule mandates costly, infeasible technologies that are designed to force the early retirement of traditional electric power plants, rather than any genuine scientific interest in protecting human health and the environment. Wyoming’s lawsuit argues that the final rule exceeds EPA’s statutory authority and is otherwise arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law.
“Yet again we are compelled to challenge the unlawful and ill-conceived rulemaking of the Biden Administration’s EPA to defend the interests of our core industries, including coal, as well as protect consumers from burdensome regulations that increase energy costs and threaten our nation’s energy supply, while doing little or nothing for the environment,” Governor Gordon said. 
Wyoming’s participation in the lawsuit is funded through a bill passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Gordon in 2021. House Bill 207 created the coal-fired facility closures litigation funding account. 
A copy of the states’ Petition for Review may be found at https://drive.google.com/file/d/11VOxyiJ8rdsb3r_eEqaigAJIAp3Cwwyf/view.

Sunny and windy in much of Wyoming on Tuesday. Wind gusts in some areas could exceed 50 mph. Highs generally in the 60s and 70s and lows in the 40s and 50s. 

Central:  

Casper:  Look for it to be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 75 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 55 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.  

Riverton:  Expect it to be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 79 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 52 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph. 

Jeffrey City:  It should be mostly sunny and windy today with a high near 72 and wind gusts as high as 34 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 50 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph. 

Southwest:  

Evanston:  It should be mostly sunny today with a high near 66 and wind from 10-17 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear with a low near 42.

Green River:  Look for it to be sunny and breezy today with a high near 70 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 49 and wind gusts as high as 31 mph.

South Pass:  Expect it to be partly sunny and windy today with a high near 64 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and windy with a low near 45 and wind gusts as high as 37 mph.

Western Wyoming:  

Pinedale:  Look for it to be mostly sunny and windy today with a high near 62 and wind gusts as high as 36 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 40 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph.

Alpine:  Expect it to be sunny and breezy today with a high near 68 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 46 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

Big Piney:  It should be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 67 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 40 and wind gusts as high as 29 mph. 

Northwest:  

Dubois:  It should be sunny and windy today with a high near 64 and wind gusts as high as 47 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and windy with a low near 46 and wind gusts as high as 47 mph.

Jackson:  Look for it to be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 67 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 44 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park:  Expect it to be partly sunny and breezy today with a high near 56 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Overnight it should be partly cloudy and breezy with a low near 41 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

Bighorn Basin:

Thermopolis:  Look for it to be sunny and breezy today with a high near 79 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. It should be mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 56 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph.

Cody:  Expect it to be partly sunny and windy today with a high near 72 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 54 and wind gusts as high as 34 mph. 

Greybull:  Clouds should increase and it should be breezy today with a high near 77 and wind gusts as high as 31 mph. Overnight it should be partly cloudy and breezy with a low near 52 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

North Central:  

Buffalo:  Look for it to be sunny today with a high near 69 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. It should be mostly clear overnight with a low near 52.

Sheridan:  Expect it to be mostly sunny today with a high near 74 and afternoon wind from 13-18 mph. It should be partly cloudy overnight with a low near 49 and wind from 12-17 mph.

Big Horn:  It should be mostly sunny today with a high near 73 and wind from 13-18 mph. Overnight it should be partly cloudy with a low near 50 and wind from 12-17 mph.

Northeast:  

Gillette:  It should gradually become sunny today with a high near 71 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear with a low near 50 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

Sundance:  Look for it to be mostly sunny today with a high near 65 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear with a low near 49 and winds could gust as high as 29 mph.

Moorcroft:  Expect it to gradually become sunny today with a high near 71 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear with a low near 48 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

Eastern Plains:  

Torrington:  Expect it to be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 81 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 54 and wind from 15-20 mph.

Wheatland:  There’s a high wind warning in effect until noon. It should be mostly sunny and windy today with a high near 80 and wind gusts as high as 55 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 57 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

Kaycee:  Look for it to be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 72 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph. It should be mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 53 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

Southeast:  

Cheyenne:  There’s a high wind watch in effect until Wednesday night. Expect it to be mostly sunny and windy today with a high near 75 and wind gusts as high as 45 mph. It should be mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 54 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph. 

Laramie:  There’s a high wind warning in effect until Wednesday night. It should be mostly sunny and windy today with a high near 69 and wind gusts as high as 60 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and windy with a low near 45 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph. 

Chugwater:  There’s a high wind warning in effect until noon. Look for it to be mostly sunny and windy today with a high near 77 and wind gusts as high as 55 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 56 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph.

South Central:  

Rawlins:  There’s a high wind warning in effect until Wednesday night. Expect it to be sunny and windy today with a high near 70 and wind gusts as high as 55 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and windy with a low near 49 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph. 

Encampment:  It should be breezy and gradually become sunny today with a high near 68 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 45 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

Hanna:  There’s a high wind warning in effect until Wednesday night.  Look for it to be mostly sunny and windy today with a high near 69 and wind gusts as high as 60 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and breezy with a low near 48 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph.

The Environmental Protection Agency continues to be sued over its new set of rules for power plants, and it’s coming from all sides.

Wyoming announced May 30 that it’s joining 21 other states challenging the EPA. This is Wyoming’s third lawsuit in recent weeks over the new rules that target pollutants from power plants, many of which are the backbone for the coal industry.

The latest lawsuit focuses on reducing wastewater pollutants. In technical terms, this part of the EPA’s rule is called “Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating Category.” In layman’s terms, it means that coal-fired power plants will have stricter guidelines for how much toxic metals and pollutants can be dumped into water bodies. If followed as written, the EPA estimates up to 672 million pounds less toxins will be discharged. As for health risks, the federal agency claims some of these toxins can cause things like cancer in humans, and deformities and reproductive issues in fish and wildlife.

But Wyoming, and the other states involved, argue the stricter regulations are beyond what the federal government can require.

“Petitioners will show that the final rule exceeds the agency’s statutory

authority and otherwise is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and

not in accordance with law,” according to the Petition for Review paperwork.

Gov. Mark Gordon said in a press release that implementing the technology is not only “costly and infeasible,” but is an effort to shut down the coal industry masked as “protecting human health and the environment.”

Funding Wyoming’s endeavor is the coal-fired facility closures litigation account, which was created in 2021 by House Bill 207. Monies can be used toward any lawsuit aimed at protecting Wyoming’s coal industry.

Meanwhile, The Center for Biological Diversity also sued – but for much different reasons. The conservation group said the rules aren’t stringent enough. That’s because if power plants are retiring by 2034, they don’t have to follow the updated water pollutant standards. The group said that means millions of pounds of toxins will go into rivers, hurting aquatic life.

“Dozens of threatened and endangered wildlife species, including sturgeon, hellbender salamanders, sea turtles, fish and freshwater mussels will be harmed by these continued levels of pollution,” according to the group’s press release.

Lawsuits aside, many agree the EPA power plant rules as a whole will hasten the decline of the already struggling coal industry.