A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia ordered [text, PDF] the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] on Wednesday to evaluate how many power plant and coal mining jobs have been lost due to air pollution regulations. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy [official profile] had previously declared it would take about two years to establish a system that accomplishes such a goal. Judge John Preston Bailey found the EPA’s excuse inadequate, ruling that the agency is required by law to continuously analyze economic shifts when enforcing the Clean Air Act [materials]. Bailey ordered the EPA to complete an analysis by July 1 that details the facilities affected by the regulations during Obama’s presidential term. Bailey further ordered the agency to show documentation by the year’s end proving the agency’s compliance with its obligation to monitor job losses.

Regulating power plant emissions has been a contentious issue. In June the US Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that the EPA must consider costs of the regulations it puts on power plants. The Clean Power plan was introduced as a set of proposed rules in June 2014 and challenged [JURIST report] in April. In February Murray Energy Corporation [corporate website] won their suit contesting [press release] the Clean Power Plan resulting in the delay of its implementation.