Republicans Eye Appropriations Process, Other Maneuvers to Limit Action
Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
11/14/2014
With Republicans taking full control of Congress in last week’s mid-term elections, measures to block some actions by the Environmental Protection Agency, including the EPA’s proposed emissions standards for new and existing power plants, will likely move forward, though it could take time to do so, Congressional staffers said during a roundtable discussion hosted by The Hill magazine this week. “With the EPA, it’s probably a longer process as it works probably through the appropriations process,” Ryan Bernstein, Chief of Staff for Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), said during the event. “If the president and the agencies move through executive order and regulatory action, we’ll probably have to take action in the appropriations process, which is a longer process. … The discussions will start right away but by the time we [need to get] appropriations bills through I think it’ll be a much longer discussion.”
The regulations in question are EPA’s proposed carbon emissions standards for new and existing coal fired power plants. The rule for new-build plants would essentially mandate the use of carbon capture and storage technology on all new coal-fired power plants. The proposed regulations for existing coal-fired power plants, developed under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, would set emissions reduction goals for each state and require states to develop action plans to meet those goals. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who was elected the next Majority Leader of the Senate this week, has introduced various bills to try to stop the regulations in the past, but was unable to get them through the Democratic-controlled senate. Even with control of Congress, any legislation which could kill the regulations would be highly unlikely to avoid a presidential veto, leading Congressional Republicans to consider riders on appropriations bills, bills that could be harder to veto.
The rules could also come under scrutiny via the Congressional Review Act in the Senate as such an action there would require a simple majority of 51 votes, said Tom Hassenboehler, Chief Counsel for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. “We’re looking at some new legislative ideas. It’s a little early to speculate exactly how that’s going to go, but you can expect some early attention on the rule obviously and some early attention on trying to change the debate about how this thing is playing out. Obviously everyone speculates on the Congressional Review Act and there’ll certainly be those debates especially in the Senate where it’s a 51 majority to try to move something on that,” Hassenboehler said.
