Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
3/13/2015
The West Virginia state legislature will have final say on the state’s implementation plan for the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for coal fired power plants under a new law signed by West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin last week. Under the new law, once the EPA finalizes its regulation, which would require states to develop action plans to meet EPA set carbon emission reduction goals, the state Department of Environmental Protection would have to submit its action plan first to the West Virginia state legislature for approval. “If the department submits a proposed state plan to the Legislature under this section, the Legislature may by act, including presentment to the Governor, authorize the department to submit the proposed state plan to the Environmental Protection Agency, authorize the department to submit the state plan with amendment, or not grant such rulemaking or other authority to the department for submission and implementation of the state plan,” the law says.
Even before submitting a plan to the legislature, the West Virginia law requires an in depth feasibility study be conducted by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. “The report must include a comprehensive analysis of the effect of the Section 111(d) Rule on the state, including, but not limited to, the need for legislative or other changes to state law,” according to the text of the law. The report must also take into account: consumer impacts, including any disproportionate impacts of energy price increases on lower income populations; non-air quality health and environmental impacts; projected energy requirements; market-based considerations in achieving performance standards; the costs of achieving emission reductions due to factors such as plant age, location or basic process design; physical difficulties with or any apparent inability to feasibly implement certain emission reduction measures; the absolute cost of applying the performance standard to the unit; the expected remaining useful life of the unit; the impacts of closing the unit and impacts on the reliability of the system, according to the law.
Similar Legislation Introduced In Other States
West Virginia is not the only state taking legislative action to push back against the proposed rule. Minnesota and Montana have introduced bills similar to the West Virginia bill and Kentucky, last year, passed legislation which would bar the state from implementing a plan that uses three of the four “building blocks” included in the EPA’s Best System of Emissions Reduction. These “building blocks” within the proposed rule are efficiency improvements at the plants, switching to lower emitting energy sources, building additional zero emission generation and demand side energy efficiency. Under the Kentucky law, only improvements made at the plant can be included in the state’s action plan. The Montana bill is classified as “likely dead” by the Montana Legislature and the Minnesota bill failed by a vote of 55-73 this week. A bill introduced in Colorado would require that a state implementation plan be reviewed by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
