The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it will publish its climate rules in Friday’s Federal Register, beginning the clock for states to sue over the rules and for Republicans to challenge the regulations.
All rules will be published Friday, said EPA Aassistant Administrator Janet McCabe on a call with reporters. She said she is confident the rules are legally defensible and “that our application … conforms with legal precedent.”
A group of 16 states is prepared to sue the agency over the Clean Power Plan, which requires states to reduce emissions by one-third by 2030. The GOP will introduce a resolution of disapproval in attempt to repel the rule on the Hill.
McCabe said she is “confident we will make progress,” despite the opposition.
She also said the EPA will begin working with the states to help them “succeed” in meeting the targets of the rules, beginning a round of meetings with them in November and December on a renewable energy incentive program that seeks to boost solar and wind in the states ahead of Clean Power Plan implementation.
Once published in the Federal Register, McCabe said EPA will take comment on a Federal Implementation Plan until Jan. 21. The federal plan would be used to implement the Clean Power Plan if a state does not propose its own plan on how it will comply by September 2016.
