FRANKFORT, Ky. (August 28, 2026)— Attorney General Russell Coleman announced today he is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a devastating inflationary Biden-era EPA air quality regulation that has raised costs for Kentucky manufacturers, utilities and farmers. Leading a 25-state coalition with West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey, General Coleman argues the overly stringent standards wouldn’t improve public health but will raise costs and could effectively block new economic activity or job creation in large parts of the country.
In 2024, then-President Biden’s EPA implemented an unprecedented limit on tiny particles in the air in an attempt to solve an air quality problem that doesn’t exist. AGs Coleman and McCuskey have led the fight against this rule since early 2024.
After President Trump was elected in 2024, the EPA changed its position on the rule and now half of the AGs from across the country are seeking to repeal the regulation.
The Biden-era EPA rule could:
- Block the permitting of new manufacturing facilities and drive good-paying jobs out of Kentucky and overseas;
- Stop new infrastructure construction and leave Kentuckians on unsafe and congested roads and bridges; and
- Require small businesses, farmers, restaurants and even homeowners to pay for costly new equipment.
Kentucky’s low-cost energy is central to the Commonwealth’s competitive advantage in attracting business investment.
“Together with attorneys general across the country, we’re asking the Supreme Court to turn the page of President Biden’s assault on common sense. This regulation was about politics, not public health,” said Attorney General Coleman. “Alongside my talented colleague, General McCuskey, we’re seeking to break the EPA’s chokehold on our states’ economic potential.”
“This regulation threatens the jobs and affordable energy our state depends on. Alongside AG Coleman, I’m proud to lead the coalition asking the Supreme Court to put a stop to it. West Virginia knows firsthand what it costs families and businesses when Washington imposes rules disconnected from common sense. Reversing this regulation is a step in the right direction,” Attorney General McCuskey said.
According to a letter led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and 28 other leading industry associations, “lowering the current standard so dramatically would create a perverse disincentive for American investment. The EPA’s proposal could force investment in new facilities to foreign countries with less stringent air standards.”
Earlier this year, AG Coleman helped lead the effort of supporting the EPA’s repeal of Biden’s anti-coal regulations from 2024.
Even before these heavy-handed new rules, the United States has some of the strictest air quality standards in the world – tougher than the European Union and far more stringent than the world’s worst polluters, including China, India and Indonesia.
Kentucky and West Virginia are joined by attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
Read the full petition here.
Background:
In March 2024 Attorney General Coleman filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the new air quality rule handed down by the Biden-EPA.
Later that year, Attorney General Coleman took the EPA to court in the U.S. Court of Appeals.