Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
6/12/2015
Refusing to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants is not a recommended course of action for states moving forward, Bill Becker, Executive Director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA), said late last week at an event hosted by the Environment and Energy Studies Institute. The rule in question, which is due to be finalized in August, requires states to develop action plans to meet federally set carbon emission targets. “There’s been this effort to try to persuade states to stand down and to ignore the implementation of this program and while … not every state likes this program, if the law is not changed, this is the law, and the consequence of standing down and not implementing this program is severe. A federal plan will be imposed and by definition it will be less flexible and more costly for stakeholders,” Becker said.
Under the proposed EPA regulations, if a state does not develop a state implementation plan (SIP) the EPA has the authority to then put in place a federal implementation plan (FIP). However, the tools available to the EPA in the development of a FIP have been called into question. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in a March 19 letter to the nation’s governors calling on them to refuse compliance, stated that “by requiring states to submit a plan aimed at achieving a lower emissions target based upon four so-called ‘building blocks’ … the EPA is overreaching, as its authority under the Clean Air Act extends only to the first building block related to source specific energy efficiency upgrades.”
Following McConnell’s advice and refusing to implement the rule would undermine the ongoing work by regulators and state officials throughout the nation to begin developing plans to come into compliance with the rule, Becker said. “It will just show a total disregard for the tens of thousands of hours that state governmental officials have used for meeting with stakeholders and others trying to make this work,” Becker said. “This sends the wrong signal in light of the fact that we think greenhouse gasses and climate change are real problems and must be addressed.”
Implementation Will Be Difficult but is Possible
The NACAA recently released an in-depth encyclopedia of compliance options for the rule. The document explores a large number of carbon reduction mechanisms expanding well beyond the “building blocks” included in the EPA’s Best System of Emissions Reduction. The document notes that the EPA does not limit states in what actions they can take to reduce their emissions. The many options addressed in the document illustrate the flexibility provided to states in the rule, though that does not mean implementation will be easy, Becker said. “I don’t want to leave the impression that implementation of the Clean Power Plan is a slam dunk. It’s not,” he said. “It’s going to be challenging, we understand this, but we are going to be working very, very hard at the state and local level trying to make it work.”
