State regulators are converging on Washington this week to discuss hurdles in meeting President Obama’s far-reaching climate rules for power plants, as the administration plans to ask Congress to increase its budget for programs to help states cut emissions.
The National Association of State Energy Officials, representing governor-appointed energy officials, begins its policy conference Tuesday, the same day the White House will issue the fiscal 2017 budget proposal, the final one of Obama’s presidency.
The association is focused on key state-funding programs from the Department of Energy, while other groups — including the National Association of Clean Air Agencies — that will be in town to talk with the governors’ energy officers are more closely eyeing state funding increases under the budget proposal for the Environmental Protection Agency.
The air agencies, the governors’ offices and state utility regulators will hold a workshop Thursday and Friday at the close of the energy officials’ summit to discuss how states will meet emissions cuts under the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of President Obama’s climate change agenda.
The state energy officials and the National Association of Clean Air Agencies with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners form what they call the “3N” collaborative on the Clean Power Plan. The groups formed the collaborative, a rarity among the agencies they represent, after the EPA proposed the Clean Power Plan two years ago. Observers say questions over EPA’s utility rules have forced them to form such rare alliances in recent years.
The EPA plan was finalized last summer, but that hasn’t made the 3Ns any less busy. The two-day schedule of events later this week will include a keynote address by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy Thursday.
Her talk will be followed by sessions meant to deal with key questions over: “Who is Responsible for What and How Can We Best Work Together;” “Reliability: How Do We Ensure the Lights Stay On;” and “Affordability, Cost Containment and Economic Development,” according to an agenda obtained by Washington Examiner.
All of that will be considered as the Supreme Court weighs a motion by 29 state attorneys general to stay the Clean Power Plan, keeping it on ice until a lower court weighs the merits of their arguments. The states suing EPA over the climate rule argue that the plan is illegal under the Clean Air Act. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is expected to make his decision on the climate plan as soon as next week, at the same time the utility commissioners hold their winter policy meeting in Washington.
Bill Becker, the director of the air agency group, told Climate Wire last week that a budget document he saw showed the amount of funding for state climate programs increasing, while the overall EPA budget would be lower than what the president proposed the previous year.
He says the EPA request will be $8.27 billion for fiscal 2017, which would be less than the $8.6 billion the administration wanted for the agency in fiscal 2016. The amount, however, is closer to what Congress gave the agency in last year’s budget bill.
Jeff Holmstead, former EPA air office chief under former President George W. Bush, told the Examiner that “it’s interesting that they’ve backed off the high numbers that Congress has rejected over the last few years, but they’re still asking for substantial increases for climate change programs.”
Becker said EPA will propose an additional $1.68 billion for climate infrastructure programs. He says Obama will include a $40 million increase in the money slated for the agencies he represents, for a total of $268.2 million.
“It seems unlikely that Congress will be providing additional money for programs that most members think are not authorized by statute,” Holmstead said, noting that many Republican lawmakers say the Clean Power Plan is unconstitutional.
Becker told the Examiner that the amount he cited in the Climate Wire article “reflected EPA’s total budget, as well as the portion of EPA’s budget that goes to state and local air pollution control agencies.”
Other members of 3N said they were not made privy to the EPA budget numbers.
