Changes could be afoot for the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed power plant rule.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy noted Thursday that while states are designing plans to comply with the proposal, some have raised issues that might require some rethinking from the agency.
“I think it’s all continuing to be a healthy debate. And you may see adjustments in state levels [for carbon dioxide emissions cuts], you may see adjustments in the framework,” McCarthy said at a Washington event hosted by think tank Resources for the Future.
The proposal aims to cut carbon emissions from power plants to 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. It’s scheduled to be finalized next June.
But states and affected industries have raised concerns about the proposal. It is complex and long, so sorting through it has taken some time. The EPA acquiesced to some of those calls last week by extending a comment period for the draft by 45 days, until Dec. 1.
Critics of the proposed rule fear it will raise energy costs. They say that would burden low-income consumers and damage the economy. Some states also worry about whether they can reasonably achieve some of the emissions targets the EPA has set for them.
McCarthy noted that clarity from the agency has been a top concern for states. Some issues that kept arising in comments were how the agency would treat nuclear power sources under the proposal, the metric the agency was using to measure carbon emissions and how to account for renewable energy sources.
And that’s a good thing, McCarthy said.
“They’re gelling around some really concrete things that the agency needs to think about. They’re exactly what you hope for in a rule-making process. So I’m pretty excited about it,” McCarthy told reporters at the event.
