EPA delays carbon rules for power plants

The Obama administration is delaying rules aimed at curbing carbon emissions from power plants and will write a separate implementation plan for states that have threatened not to design their own.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that rules for new plants, due by law Friday, will be pushed back to “mid-summer” and will be coordinated with another set of regulations to cut greenhouse gasses from existing and modified plants that was to be finalized in June.

The delay happens as Republicans, who have threatened to overturn emissions regulations criticized by some politicians and executives as a “war on coal,” take control of Congress after their recent election victory.

When asked if the agency was delaying to counter a threat by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for the agency's Office of Air and Radiation, said “it's all about the best policy outcome.”

The EPA said it needs time to deal with overlapping issues raised in comments on the proposed rules. Rules would require new plants to capture some carbon emissions and bury them underground. Other regulations require state-specific plans to reduce greenhouse gasses nationally by 30 percent.

“We think these additional few weeks will give us the time we need … to finalize a suite of rules that takes into account all these cross-cutting issues,” McCabe told reporters during a conference call.

Coal industry leaders who have fought back against the rules said the delay is a start.

“This delay reflects the EPA's realization that the proposed rule lacks reason and a practical application,” said John Pippy, CEO of the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance. “We are hopeful that the revised plan includes an achievable timetable to utilize technologies when they potentially become available.”

The move to write a model state plan is a response to mostly Republican-controlled states that have said in lawsuits and letters that the proposed rules overstep the EPA's authority. The state plan will be open to public comment before it's finalized.

“We certainly hope every state will feel it's in their best interest to develop their own plan,” McCabe said. “But we do have an obligation to have a state plan available for states that don't submit their own.”

The EPA received more than 4 million comments on the rules that direct states to cut carbon emissions to state-specific levels. Opponents say President Obama and the EPA are targeting coal at the risk of eliminating the country's biggest source of electrical generation. New coal-fired plants are impossible under the rules and existing plants will be forced offline, analysts say.

Industry groups, unions, utility regulators and others say the proposals jeopardize the grid, jobs and investment.

“I don't see these moves doing anything to address these concerns,” said Kevin Sunday, manager of government affairs for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry in Harrisburg.

The Sierra Club applauded the EPA.

“This shows that the administration is serious about keeping its promises to protect public health and our planet,” said executive director Michael Brune.

Sunday said the EPA needed to combine the rule processes to answer uncertainties, such as whether an existing power plant that makes certain upgrades would then be subject to rules covering new plants. But delaying the rules adds uncertainties for companies building natural gas-fired plants. Whenever the rules take effect, they will apply retroactively to plants being built from this week forward, Sunday said.

“It's already a tough time for the generation industry,” he said, noting the coal plants that companies are retiring because they can't meet other environmental rules, or are no longer economically competitive.

“The administration is turning a deaf ear to mounting concerns being raised by energy experts, grid operators and state officials and is instead continuing its ‘go at it alone' mentality — all to fulfill a misguided presidential legacy,” said Mike Duncan, CEO of the Washington-based American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, who leaves office Jan. 20, expressed opposition to the plan but did not join in any lawsuits. His replacement, Democrat Tom Wolf, has mentioned concerns with how the plan would affect an energy- and coal-exporting state such as Pennsylvania, but has not given a detailed response to the proposed rules.

“The plan allows for Gov.-elect Wolf to work to implement a flexible plan for Pennsylvania that can be tailored to fit our economic needs,” said his spokesman, Jeff Sheridan.

David Conti is a staff writer for Trib Total Media.