Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
4/18/2014
Pennsylvania environmental regulators are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to give states greater flexibility when the EPA develops carbon dioxide regulations for existing power plants. This week, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued a white paper with suggestions for the Clean Air Act Section 111(d) proposal the EPA is developing with an aim toward issuing a draft rule in June and a final version in July. “EPA should establish targets for reductions, rather than mandate pathways to achieve them. A flexible approach avoids picking ‘winners and losers’ and empowers states to design the most cost-effective compliance options for their constituents,” Pennsylvania DEP Secretary Christopher Abruzzo said in a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy that accompanied the white paper.
The white paper comes on the heels of remarks McCarthy made last week when she acknowledged the calls from states to allow for greater flexibility. “The challenge that you’ve given to us is be as flexible as possible but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be so flexible that I won’t be able to rely on this as a federally enforceable rule to deliver carbon pollution reductions at the level that our guidance indicates,” McCarthy said at an April 7 event organized by the Bipartisan Policy Center. “What we’re trying to do is respond very positively to what we’ve heard from the states which is every state’s not in the same place and you should recognize that and every state does not have the same opportunities for reductions and you need to recognize that.”
States Should be Able to Work Together, Paper Says
The paper emphasizes the need for the EPA to recognize the variety of existing power generation fleets in each state, stating, “The existing power generation fleet in Pennsylvania is extremely diverse in terms of fuel sources, combustion technology, and vintage. As the Commonwealth is intimately familiar with the exact composition of the fleet, Pennsylvania is best suited to design the plan to meet the final emissions guidelines promulgated by EPA and also to be adequately flexible to accommodate Pennsylvania’s diverse resources. This is true for all state and local agencies.”
The white paper implies that individual states are best equipped to set their own paths to meet emissions targets and that if the EPA develops emissions guidelines it should be done under 111(d), giving states the authority to “devise flexible programs for existing units that achieve the federal guidelines using provisions that work best for the individual states.” The paper also stresses a need for emissions guidelines to be developed in close consultation with the states. Further, it calls for the allowance of collaborative efforts between states in multi-state or regional programs but makes it clear that “this collaborative process should be provided for, but not obligated in the guidelines developed by EPA.”
Representatives from Pennsylvania were expected to be in attendance at an Energy-Producing States Summit at Bismarck State College’s National Energy Center of Excellence this week. The summit was organized by North Dakota Department of Health and Basin Electric Power Cooperative. Attendance was expected to include representatives from the EPA and the states of Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Texas, West Virginia, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Louisiana, Colorado, Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa, Arizona, Virginia and Washington, DC.