Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
2/2/2015
States that go beyond the carbon emissions reduction goals outlined in the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed “Clean Power Plan” regulations would be eligible to receive money from a $4 billion fund the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to create in its Fiscal Year 2016 budget request, released today. The Clean Power Plan, expected to be finalized this summer, would set state-specific carbon emissions reduction goals and require each state to develop an action plan to meet these goals. The EPA’s proposed “Clean Power State Incentive Fund” would be available to states that either seek to meet their proposed goals earlier-than-planned or to go beyond their proposed goals. “The fund would have, essentially, funds set aside for each state, should they wish to apply for it,” Janet McCabe, acting Assistant EPA Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, said during a press briefing today on EPA’s request. “What we’ll be looking for is states that are developing plans that will either get reductions earlier than the final guidelines ultimately require or seek to go further than the final guidelines require. We think that this is something that any state can consider doing.”
The fund would be used for “on-the-ground” activities, McCabe said, not to be confused with other funding in the EPA’s budget request that would be used to aid states in developing plans. “The Fund will enable states that accelerate their reductions and go beyond the Clean Power Plan to receive funds for, but not limited to, efforts that advance carbon pollution reductions. Efforts may include providing assistance to businesses to expand energy efficiency, renewable energy, and combined heat and power through, for example, low-interest loans and infrastructure investments. Efforts could also include mitigation or adaptation support to address environmental pollution in low income and underserved communities,” the EPA request says.
Fund Not Intended to Help States Meet Goals
Acting EPA Deputy Administrator Stan Meiburg made clear during today’s press briefing that fund would not be for states to simply meet their Clean Power Plan goals. “These are funds for states who would go beyond their obligations under the Clean Power Plan,” he said. McCabe said that “states will be developing their plans in response to the Clean Power Plan guidelines after they’re finalized this summer and they will be laying out their plans for meeting those guidelines and, if they wish, going beyond those guidelines. The President is acknowledging with this fund that there may be infrastructure and investment needs in communities across their state that would help them to go further than the guidelines require, so that’s the purpose of the fund.”
The EPA would administer the fund using a yet-to-be-determined formula to decide how much qualifying states would receive, McCabe said. “We are looking at a formula that would be used that would relate to factors such as the size of the state goal under the final rule, population and other factors of that sort. … We’re still working out the details and more details will be available later,” she said.
Proposal Draws Mixed Response
The announcement of the new fund drew praise from the environmental community. “We are especially pleased to see an increase in funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and a new $4 billion proposal for that agency to create a Clean Power State Incentive Fund,” Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp said in a statement. “EPA’s Clean Power State Incentive Fund would help those states that want to go beyond the targets and timelines set by the Clean Power Plan. It would provide grants to help states achieve their most ambitious plans to accelerate the deployment of clean energy and smarter, more efficient energy systems.”
Some opponents of the Clean Power Plan came out against the proposal, though, saying the fund would just add additional cost to what they describe as an already expensive and ineffective regulation. “The president is veiling bad policy behind claims of helping low- and middle-income Americans who will most certainly foot the bill for his activist climate change agenda. Facing mounting criticism over his Clean Power Plan’s lack of flexibility and jaw-dropping compliance costs, President Obama has resorted to bribing states with taxpayer money to implement a rule many are already working fervently to overturn,” said Laura Sheehan, senior vice president for communications at the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. “Worse yet, this $4 billion bribe will do nothing to offset the half-trillion dollars Americans will have to pay out of their own pocket to use less electricity.”
