Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
6/26/2015
With the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants due to be finalized this summer, the agency is taking steps to ready itself for the task of implementing the rule, Janet McCabe, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, said this week at an event hosted by the Association of Climate Change Officers. The proposed rule, dubbed the “Clean Power Plan,” requires states to develop action plans to meet federally set emissions reduction goals. “We’re working very closely with states across the country who will be the main implementers. They are starting to think about, and some of them have already started talking with their stakeholders about, how to move forward with their plan,” McCabe said.
The proposed rule was sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review early this month, and EPA has remained tight-lipped about what will be included in the final rule. “We understand that [states] need to see what the final rules look like before they can really get into [building plans] but we want to make sure that we are all ready to hit the ground running,” McCabe said. “We are developing resource materials, training for states and will be talking with a wide range of stakeholders about when we’ll get to the point of putting those out. “
The proposed rule received more than 4.3 million comments after its announcement. McCabe hinted that many of the concerns expressed in the comments would be reflected in the final rule. “I’m not in a position to tell you about the big changes that will be in the rule,” she said, noting that the agency attempted to address areas in which a multitude of comments were received. “A lot of the comments that we got focused on this interim control period … so we’ve been looking very, very hard at that interim period and the trajectory that the proposal required.” Some states have said the proposed rules are unworkable due, in part, to a timeline that calls for a certain percentage of a state’s reduction to occur prior to the 2030 deadline.
