Sima Hameed, a senior research scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund, says she is sure that the EPA will not be able to effectively implement the new standards for both water and air pollution under the Trump Administration, but she believes the agency can come up with some good ideas for regulating air pollution over the next four to eight years. She says, however, that the agency should “never lose sight of the bigger picture in evaluating whether they’re doing the right thing for the planet.”

The proposed rule would force power companies to meet minimum air quality standards for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions from power plants at least twice a year — as long as those standards are not subject to the approval of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the state of the air around the power plant. The EPA says that the rules only apply to coal-fired power plants, which has already begun to curtail emissions. Since the emissions that coal companies burn contribute to climate change, however, states like West Virginia have filed lawsuit over the implementation of these standards.

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In a letter announcing the move to roll back the standards, President-elect Donald Trump said that “American companies will once again be allowed to pollute our air” under his administration. He added, “But the EPA regulations in EPA’s original form will soon be replaced with new rules that achieve the same environmental and economic goals.”