GHG Reduction Technologies Monitor Vol. 9 No. 14
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GHG Reduction Technologies Monitor
Article 7 of 7
June 03, 2014

WITH UPCOMING REGS FOR EXISTING PLANTS, EPA EMPHASIZES FLEXIBILITY

By Mike Nartker

Martin Schneider
GHG Monitor
4/11/2014

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy this week emphasized flexibility and a willingness to work with individual states when it comes to the agency’s upcoming carbon emission regulations for existing power plants, though she made it clear that such leeway would have limits. “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. She added that: “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. We also need to make sure that people understand that we’re trying to develop a [Clean Air Act Section 111(d)] proposal, we’re not trying to develop a cap-and-trade program, which are two very different things. So it’s not only the challenge of how you look at early reductions and capture those, but the challenge is also to stay within the legal constraints of 111(d). So it’s not unlimited or unbridled flexibility and EPA is not using its own vision of what the energy world looks like. We’re looking at what the energy world is.”

EPA last September issued regulations for new power plants and a proposal for existing plants is set to be released in June. Each state will be required to submit a plan detailing how they will meet the new regulation and McCarthy said EPA will seek to be a partner will states in meeting the standard. “We know what the fundamentals of a plan have to be,” she said. “It needs to be concrete enough to understand that states will, over time, be able to achieve the guidance that EPA issues. But it is an absolute collaboration between the federal and state government. This is a partnership if there ever was one.”

She added, though, that “the challenge of doing a carbon pollution standard is that this carbon standard is going to be federally enforceable. It is going to be a requirement. It is not going to be an aspirational goal that if everything else goes right it ought to happen. We are going to be looking at the state plans to determine whether or not they are conforming with the guidance in getting the significant carbon pollution reductions that are going to be required. We are going to make them cost effective, we’re going to make them make sense, we’re going to recognize different states are in different places and different regions are in different places—but we’re not going to rely on an aspirational goal that if integrated resource planning goes well then things should happen in the way we want them to happen.”  McCarthy acknowledged that “it presents a challenge to us” but “the good thing is … there is enormous flexibility in the definition of a state plan and our ability to look at the time line for achieving that—for submitting the plans and for achieving the reductions. We’re going to take full advantage of that in this proposal so that we can have more concrete discussions as we move forward.”

McCarthy also made it clear that EPA will view the draft regulations as a working document that is subject to change, based on the comments received. “I hope when this proposal goes out is that people will look at it and say EPA listened,” McCarthy said. “EPA did what they were supposed to do. They challenged the full range of ideas. They’ve put out lots of questions. And they are willing in the comment process to get to a final that might look different than the proposal because it is informed by the discussion.”

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DOE spent fuel lead Brinton accused of second luggage theft.



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