Legislators warn of Clean Power Plan stay circumvention by EPA
In a letter sent last week to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-KY), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA) warned that the EPA’s recent actions could constitute a circumvention of a court stay issued in February by the Supreme Court on the Clean Power Plan.
While the purpose of the stay was to protect states and stakeholders from the costs associated with a rule that may not have been legal, the EPA offered support to states that “voluntarily decided to move forward,” and continued to expend resources themselves on suspended processes.
“From the very first weeks following the order, EPA has been taking steps that circumvent the court’s stay and potentially undermine the relief provided by the stay in the first place,” Upton, Whitfield and Murphy said in the letter. “Continuing to develop a suite of derivative rules and guidance raises questions about whether EPA is complying fully with the court’s stay order, about what legal authority the agency has to proceed with such actions, about how these actions affect the equities of states and stakeholders, as well as about the agency’s stewardship and use of taxpayer resources.
“The agency’s decision to move forward with a shadow regulatory structure to implement the Clean Power Plan presents several obvious concerns. Continuing to develop a suite of derivative rules and guidance raises questions about whether EPA is complying fully with the Court’s stay order, about what legal authority the agency has to proceed with such actions, about how these actions affect the equities of states and stakeholders, as well as about the agency’s stewardship and use of taxpayer resources.”
The congressmen’s letter requested additional information from the EPA by May 27 in order to clarify the agency’s actions and their impact.
