Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
6/12/2015
A provision in the House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, reported out of subcommittee this week, would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from using funding to carry out proposed regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing and new coal-fired power plants. The language of the bill would prevent EPA from using any funds to implement the standards, which are expected to be finalized in August. The first, which regulates carbon emissions from any new-build coal-fired power plants, would largely mandate the use of carbon capture and storage technology. The second, which would regulate carbon emissions from existing coal-fired power plants, sets emissions reduction targets for each state and requires the states to develop plans to reach those targets.
Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R- Ky.) said the bill serves as a defense against the regulations, which he described as overreaching and onerous. “Of course, EPA would have us believe that these regulations will not negatively impact our economy, when evidence suggests that the opposite is true. These regulations will devastate the production of coal, our nation’s cheapest and most dependable source of energy, meaning that we will come to rely on more expensive and less reliable sources of fuel,” Rogers said. “Congress must exercise its prerogative to prevent this kind of bureaucratic overreach.”
EPA Funded at $7.4 Billion
The bill would fund the EPA at $7.4 billion, a reduction of $718 million from FY2015 enacted levels and $1.17 billion below the President’s FY 2016 request. The bill would also cut regulatory programs to $69 million less than FY15 enacted levels and $206 million less than the request. “In addition, staffing levels at the EPA are held to 15,000, the lowest level since 1989. These reductions will help the agency streamline operations, and focus its activities on core duties, rather than unnecessary regulatory expansion,” according to a committee press release.
Democrats Unhappy With Bill
Democratic lawmakers expressed disappointment with the bill this week. Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) called the provision in the bill blocking the EPA from implementing the proposed power plant regulations “a demonstration of solidarity with climate change deniers and the coal industry.” Subcommittee Ranking Member Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) criticized the use of budgetary riders to try to stop the EPA’s regulatory process. “These provisions do not belong in our bill, they undermine the important environmental laws, they endanger public health and safety and they deny that climate change is having a very real impact on our planet,” she said.
