Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
7/31/2015
States will have an additional two years to achieve interim goals under the final version of the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, the “Clean Power Plan,” according to a source familiar with the rule. The rule, which was proposed in June 2014, requires states to develop action plans to meet state-specific federally set emissions reduction goals. Within the proposed rule states are expected to reach a certain percentage of their targeted reductions during an interim period beginning in 2020. However, the source said, the final version of the rule, anticipated to be released as early as Aug. 3, will push the interim period back to 2022 and will include an early action program for states willing and able to make reductions earlier. “Specifically, the program is expected to begin in 2020 with a new, ambitious clean energy incentive program, while giving states more time until 2022 to demonstrate their compliance,” the source told GHG Monitor this week by e-mail. “The early action program is expected to give states credit for deploying new clean energy technologies, allowing for deeper cuts in carbon pollution in the long term. To ensure all Americans benefit from the Clean Power Plan, the program prioritizes early clean energy investment in low-income communities.”
The interim goal has been a source of controversy since the rule was proposed with some arguing the timeline does not allow ample time to implement actions that could require costly investment, infrastructure projects, and lengthy legislative processes. Republican lawmakers from both chambers requested in a July 22 letter to Howard Shelanski, administrator of the OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, that OMB return the rule to the EPA if the timeline was unchanged in the draft final version. Congressman who signed the letter did not respond to requests for comment this week.
Even with the change to the timeline, some opponents argue the rule is still too stringent. “That the White House is reported to provide two additional years for states to comply with its wholly unworkable regulations is irrelevant as American families and businesses will still bear the brunt of more costly, less reliable electricity,” Laura Sheehan, senior vice president for communications at the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, said in an ACCCE statement released this week. “In issuing the regulations, the administration will have ignored the concerns of Members of Congress, leaders in a super-majority of states, citizens from coast to coast, businesses of every size, policy experts, regulators and legal experts. Should the EPA move forward to issue these regulations as final, we will do everything in our power to get them thrown out.”
Backlash from GOP, Industry, Expected, White House Chief of Staff Says
The administration expects immediate backlash from Republicans and the fossil fuel industry following the release of the final rule, Denis McDonough, White House chief of staff, said this week at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress shortly after news of the delay was reported. “We know what to expect from them,” McDonough said. “It’s a well-worn playbook of scare tactics that are used again and again and have been used over the last 40 years since the Clean Air Act was enacted. It won’t be based on an honest analysis of the science because you’ll start to hear these critiques even before anyone’s taken the time to read the rule or the updated analysis. They’ll tell us that the Clean Power Plan will raise bills, kill jobs, and cause power to go out. That’s flat-out false.”
Mississippi Will Not Submit Implementation Plan for Compliance, Governor Says
In a July 23 letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant said Mississippi will not submit a State Implementation Plan (SIP) for compliance with the Clean Power Plan. Under the Clean Power Plan, if a state does not submit a SIP, the EPA has the authority to put in place a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP). “The flaws inherent in EPA’s proposal make the development of responsible SIPs unworkable for states, including Mississippi. Many of our concerns with the proposal stem from EPA’s decision to proceed without considering or understanding Mississippi’s energy markets and infrastructure needs, and without recognizing Mississippi’s past achievements in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” Bryant wrote.
The White House Office of Management and Budget is reviewing a draft FIP prepared by the EPA. It is expected that the draft FIP, as well as a final version of the agency’s carbon emissions standards for new-build coal-fired power plants, will be released around the same time as the final Clean Power Plan.
