Dive Brief:
- In comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state and industry groups argued the EPA's proposed carbon dioxide emissions standards for modified and reconstructed power plants under Section 111(b) of the Clean Air Act is illegal, Bloomberg BNA reports.
- Modified power plants that are now subject to carbon standards for existing power plants under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act would also be subject to the standards for modified and reconstructed power plants, the EPA said in its proposed rule.
- Modified power plants would be subject to carbon standards under two separate sections of the Clean Air Amount, which amounts to double regulation and is illegal, state and industry groups argued in comments.
Dive Insight:
In addition to concerns about double regulation, many groups argued that the EPA's standards are too strict and are based on non-representative calculations.
Under the proposed standards for modified and reconstructed power plants, the EPA would require large reconstructed coal-fired generating units to cap their carbon dioxide emissions at 1,900 pounds per megawatt-hour, while smaller units would be capped at 2,100 pounds per megawatt-hour.
“Section 111(b) authorizes EPA to regulate new sources while Section 111(d) directs states to establish standards of performance for existing sources," a bloc of groups including National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute wrote in comments. "There is no basis to suggest that Congress would have intended a source to be subject to two different standards of performance adopted by two different regulators.”