A federal court is expected to decide soon whether to reconsider its Feb. 8 decision to vacate the Environmental Protection Agency’s mercury-emissions-trading rule for fossil-fuel-fired powerplants. EPA and the electric utility industry petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for a rehearing en banc.

The court on April 8 ordered any opponents to a rehearing to file their arguments within two weeks. If the requests for rehearing are denied, EPA and the utilities could petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

In New Jersey v. EPA, the appeals court found that EPA violated the law in the process that the agency used to remove powerplants from a list of sources that must reduce mercury emissions through “maximum achievable control technology.”