The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it has submitted a component of its Clean Power Plan for review by the White House Office of Management and Budget, asserting the move would not violate the Supreme Court freeze on the rule.
Submitting proposed details of the Clean Energy Incentive Program (CEIP) to the OMB “is a routine step and it is consistent with the Supreme Court stay of the Clean Power Plan,” the agency said in a statement.
The CEIP is a voluntary program in which states would receive emissions rate credits or allowances to promote early investments in wind, solar, and demand-side energy efficiency for low-income communities in 2020 and 2021. These would run parallel to the CPP’s mandate for states to reduce carbon emissions from power plants, with the aim of producing carbon-free megawatt hours or lower end-use energy demand.
In an October 2015 fact sheet, the EPA described the program like this: “Through the CEIP, states may award early action allowances, if implementing a mass-based trading program, or emission rate credits (ERCs), if implementing a rate-based trading program, to project providers, and the EPA will provide matching allowances or ERCs up to a total equivalent to 300 million short tons of CO2 emissions. The matching incentive will be larger for 2 low-income EE measures.”
The agency toward the end of last year began collecting public comment on various aspects of the CEIP, including the size of the allowance and credit reserves. EPA officials have engaged with hundreds of stakeholders, and a public comment period and hearing are planned when the proposal is made public following the interagency review, according to the agency statement.
While the program is completely optional, the EPA said last fall that states that wanted to join in would have to submit a nonbinding expression of interest no later than Sept. 6, 2016. It was not immediately known whether that deadline will hold while the Clean Power Plan is frozen.
“We’re moving forward with a draft proposal to move forward on CEIP,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said Wednesday during a trip to California. “We said let’s not leave low income communities behind, let’s develop solar and wind in those areas to shore up our clean energy future. Our system is moving in a way that will underpin that rule. This is another step forward while the CPP is stayed we can move forward on implementation tools.”
The Clean Power Plan faces a consolidated lawsuit from a large group of states, utilities, industry groups, and other stakeholders who believe the EPA has stretched far beyond its regulatory authority under the Clean Air Act. The Supreme Court in February stayed the rule until the legal challenge works its way through the federal court system, which is not expected until next year at the earliest.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case on June 2. Whatever it decides, the ruling will inevitably be appealed to the high court.
While the EPA cannot implement any part of the plan, it has said it remains ready to assist any state or other jurisdictional government that wants to continue preparing to meet the requirements. “Many states and tribes have indicated that they plan to move forward voluntarily to work to cut carbon pollution from power plants and have asked the agency to continue providing support and developing tools that may support those efforts, including the CEIP,” the EPA statement says.
