On December 20, 2000, the EPA determined pursuant to CAA section 112(n)(1)(A) that it was appropriate and necessary to regulate coal- and oil-fired EGUs under CAA section 112 and added such units to the CAA section 112(c) list of sources that must be regulated under CAA section 112(d). (December 2000 Finding; 65 FR 79,825.) On March 29, 2005, EPA issued a final rule, in which it found that it was neither appropriate nor necessary to regulate coal- and oil-fired EGUs under section 112, and it removed such units from the CAA section 112(c) list of sources (“2005 Action”).<ref>EPA, [http://www.epa.gov/airquality/powerplanttoxics/pdfs/proposal.pdf "National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants from Coal- and Oil-fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units and Standards of Performance for Fossil-Fuel-Fired Electric Utility, Industrial-Commercial-Institutional, and Small Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generating Units"] Proposed Rule, March 16, 2011.</ref>
Instead, on March 15, 2005, the EPA issued the [[Clean Air Mercury Rule]] (CAMR) to permanently cap and reduce [[mercury and coal|mercury]] emissions from coal-fired power plants for the first time ever.<ref name="camr">[http://www.epa.gov/camr/ "Clean Air Mercury Rule"] EPA, accessed July 2010.</ref> On February 8, 2008, the DC Circuit struck down CAMR in New Jersey v. EPA, No. 05-1097 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 8, 2008), as the Act removed oil and coal-fired electric utility steam generating units (EGUs) from the list of sources of hazardous air pollutants and instead regulated the emissions through a cap-and-trade program. New Jersey, and several other states, municipal governments, and environmental groups, challenged CAMR claiming that EPA had no authority to delist the EGUs without providing a “specific finding” under section 112(c)(9) of the Clean Air Act. The DC Circuit agreed with the Petitioners, vacating both the delisting rule and CAMR.<ref name="DC">Linda Bochert, [http://www.acoel.org/2008/09/articles/air/permitting/epa-in-the-dc-circuit-where-has-all-the-deference-gone/ "EPA in the District Court"] American College of Environmental Lawyers, September 23, 2008</ref>
After the ruling, the EPA began developing air toxics emissions standards for power plants under the Clean Air Act (Section 112), consistent with the D.C. Circuit’s opinion regarding CAMR. EPA said it intends to propose air toxics standards for coal- and oil-fired electric generating units by March 10, 2011 and finalize a rule by November 16, 2011.<ref name="camr"/> On December 24, 2009, EPA approved an Information Collection Request (ICR) requiring all US power plants with coal-or oil-fired electric generating units to submit emissions information for use in developing air toxics emissions standards.<ref name="camr"/>