ICAC monitors relevant Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) rulemakings and regulatory updates that impact the stationary emissions control, measurement and monitoring, and GHG emissions management industries. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2026 Unified Agenda outlines several Clean Air Act actions with significant implications for the clean air technology industry, including actions affecting fossil fuel-fired power plants, oil and natural gas operations, permitting, and implementation of national air quality standards. Among the most significant is EPA’s planned finalization of its proposal to repeal greenhouse gas emissions standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants. EPA proposed the repeal in June 2025, including the existing standards for new and existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units. The proposal also included an alternative that would repeal a narrower set of requirements, including carbon capture and sequestration/storage (CCS)-based standards for certain coal-fired units and new baseload combustion turbines. The 2026 Unified Agenda lists the action at the final rule stage; as of August 2026, final action remains pending and is under review by the Office of Management and Budget.
ICAC Activity
Regulatory
Tracker
Spring 2026 Unified Agenda
EPA's Regulatory Priorities
Oil and Natural Gas
The agenda also reflects continued EPA activity affecting emissions requirements for the oil and natural gas sector. EPA lists an additional reconsideration of the 2024 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and Emissions Guidelines for oil and natural gas operations at the proposed rule stage, with a final rule projected for July 2027. Although the agenda anticipated a proposal in July 2026, EPA’s current materials indicate that the agency is still developing proposed amendments to the 2024 rule. Separately, in April 2026, EPA finalized reconsideration of two narrower technical aspects of the 2024 standards, revising provisions related to temporary flaring of associated gas and requirements for monitoring the net heating value of vent gas and performance testing for flares and enclosed combustion devices.
Clean Air Act
EPA is also advancing changes to Clean Air Act permitting and implementation programs. On May 13, 2026, the agency published a proposed rule to revise the definition of “begin actual construction” under the New Source Review (NSR) preconstruction permitting program. The proposal would clarify which physical on-site activities involving non-emitting structures and equipment may occur before an NSR permit is issued; the comment period closed on June 29, and the 2026 Unified Agenda does not specify a projected date for a final rule.
Other Pollutants
The Unified Agenda also includes initial area designations under the 2024 revised annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which lowered the primary annual standard from 12.0 to 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter. EPA was required to complete the initial designations in February 2026 but did not do so. In July 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered EPA to issue the designations by February 6, 2027. The designations will identify areas as attainment, nonattainment, or unclassifiable and are an important step in determining subsequent Clean Air Act implementation and planning requirements. Taken together, these actions could affect permitting and compliance requirements for stationary sources, state air quality planning, and the application of emissions monitoring and control technologies across the power and industrial sectors.
