REP. WHITFIELD UNVEILS DRAFT BILL TO BLOCK NEW EPA POWER PLANT RULES

Karen Frantz
GHG Monitor
11/01/13

Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) unveiled a draft bill this week that would render the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rules setting CO2 emissions standards for new power plants of no effect. Instead, Whitfield’s proposal would set various requirements for any future regulations establishing emission standards for new plants. The draft bill would require that any future emission limits for coal-fired plants to have also been achieved by at least six units at different U.S. commercial power plants over a one-year period. Under the bill, emission standards would also be established separately for new natural gas and coal-fired plants, and new coal-fired plants that use lignite coal would be established as a subcategory, with any emission standards to also have been achieved by at least three units at different U.S. commercial power plants over a one-year period.

In a release, Whitfield, chair of the House Energy and Power Subcommittee, said, “The agency’s proposed standard for new power plants will make America the only country in the world where you cannot build a coal-fired plant … because the technologies required to meet those standards are not commercially viable.” He added, “The agency’s rule for existing plants is also likely to shut down even more plants across the country. This bipartisan, bicameral solution will prevent unworkable regulations that threaten to limit America’s power portfolio and make energy more expensive.” Whitfield said he has been working closely with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who is expected to introduce similar legislation in the Senate.

Bill Would Also Target Future Regs. For Existing Plants

The EPA’s proposal sets separate CO2 emissions standards for coal and gas units. Depending on whether plant operators decide to measure CO2 emissions over a 12- or 84-month operating period, individual coal units would have to cap emissions at between 1,000 and 1,100 lbs CO2/MWh. Gas-fired turbines, depending on their size, must also meet a CO2 emissions limit of between 1,000 and 1,100 lbs MWh over a 12-month period.

Although EPA’s proposed regulations do not set emission standards for existing power plants, Whitfield’s draft bill also takes aim at any future EPA regulations governing emissions from those plants. The draft bill states that any such rules would not go into effect unless Congress first passed legislation setting an enactment date. The EPA administrator would also be required to submit a report to Congress about the proposed rule’s economic impacts and projected effects on global greenhouse gas emissions.