West Virginia Asks EPA to Delay Power Plant Rule

摘要

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) asked the Environmental Protection Agency to delay proposing carbon dioxide emissions limits for existing power plants until after the agency has addressed purported flaws in a proposed rule that would set standards for new units. The EPA hasn't determined that carbon capture systems qualify as adequately demonstrated pollution controls for the purposes of Section 111 of the Clean Air Act, Morrisey said in his May 1 letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. The EPA's proposed rule also may violate the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which forbids the EPA from using federally funded carbon capture projects as the basis for a carbon dioxide new source performance standard, he said (45 ER 1363, 5/2/14). The EPA proposed the performance standards for new power plants in January, and President Obama has ordered the agency to propose standards for existing power plants by June 1.