Dive Brief:
- Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) has announced the state will seek a two-year extension on filing a Clean Power Plan compliance plan, a move that is significant because it shows progress toward implementing the regulation – something the Bluegrass State had pledged not to do.
- Kentucky had been among a handful of states which had planned to largely ignore the Clean Power Plan, though that approach risks the imposition of a federal implementation plan by the EPA, should court challenges to the regulations fail. Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin, had also considered such a strategy.
- But with a September deadline looming, Gov. Bevin announced it would apply for an extension in order to "consider its options and continue its fight against this plan that will harm Kentucky’s affordable, reliable electricity and devastate the economy statewide."
Dive Insight:
Is Kentucky complying with the Clean Power Plan? That may depend on who you ask, the Courier-Journal reports.
Bevin's administration issued a statement last week indicating Kentucky would apply for an extension. Even though the requirements for obtaining two additional years to develop a compliance strategy are low, they do require a state to show progress.
"It's a matter of semantics," Charles Snavely, Secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet, told the Courier-Journal, saying there is no "minimal level of progress" required for an extension.
WPFL.org, another local media outlet, even ran a story titled "Here’s Why Bevin’s EPA Announcement Is So Confusing", outlining the seemingly contradictory positions state officials are staking for compliance, with officials opposing both federal and state plans but pursuing an extension regardless.
If a state refuses to develop a compliance plan, the federal government will implement one. Kentucky had vowed not to develop a plan, but the prospect of a federal proposal is scary for the coal-reliant state.
“My job as governor is to do what’s best for the people of Kentucky, Bevin said. “We have come to the conclusion that it is in the Commonwealth’s best interest that we retain control of our own energy future. Toward that end, we are submitting an extension request. We are requesting this extension to allow serious legal challenges to progress through the court.”
Some 27 states have filed a variety of legal challenges, while another 18 have petitioned the courts in support of the rule. Earlier this month, the the D.C. Circuit Court denied a request from states, including Kentucky, to halt implementation of the Clean Power Plan until litigation on the regulatory package has concluded.
Federal officials say they understand developing a compliance plan will require an enormous amount of work for states, and the EPA is anticipating a slew of extension requests.
“We understand that it may be every single state that needs to seek an extension. There’s a lot of work for states to do and a lot of different processes,” EPA acting assistant administrator Janet McCabe said in October. Getting the extension is “not intended to be a heavy lift," she said.
The criteria for an extension was one of the most frequent questions posed to the agency, she added. To receive an extension, states simply need to make an initial submittal, detailing the work they have already done. Initial plans, absent an extension, are due in September 2016.