Dive Brief:
- Attorneys general from 13 states say the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new proposed CO2 emissions rule for existing power plants is illegal because the agency failed to include significant amounts of supporting data.
- In a letter to the agency, the states said if the EPA wants to continue with the emissions rule it should withdraw its proposal and resubmit with all of the relevant data included.
- Alternatively, the states said EPA could publish the missing data and extend the comment period 120 days from the date it is released.
Dive Insight:
Citing what they believe are "clear violations" of the Clean Air Act, the states say EPA's proposed rulemaking is unlawful. "These docketing requirements are nondiscretionary," the attorneys general wrote. "Finalizing a rule without providing parties with the technical information necessary for meaningful comment renders the final rule unlawful."
The group believes EPA erred when it omitted from the proposal 21 out of 25 Integrated Planning Model modeling runs, with the missing data covering 2016, 2018, 2020, 2025 and 2030. "This information is critical to assessing the EPA's claims the states and industry will be able to comply," they said.
The list of states petitioning the environmental agency — West Virginia, Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming — is almost the same as those who are separately suing the EPA over proposed greenhouse gas emissions limits. Kentucky, which did not sign on to this letter, is also part of the group suing the EPA.
