Fwd: Heads Up: Clean Power Plan Bill Gets Soiled in Senate Committee
Harvey Richmond
From: Jacquie Ayala <jacqui...@sierraclub.org>
Date: Wed, Jul 22, 2015 at 4:47 PM
Subject: Heads Up: Clean Power Plan Bill Gets Soiled in Senate Committee
To:
For Immediate Release
July 22, 2015
Contact: Dustin Chicurel-Bayard, dustin.chic...@sierraclub.org, 919.833.8467
Clean Power Plan Bill Gets Soiled in Senate Committee
Senate committee opts to risk a federal implementation plan
RALEIGH - Earlier today the NC Senate’s committee on Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources passed a proposed committee substitute (PCS) for H 571, Implementation of Carbon Dioxide Regulations. The PCS was offered by Sen. Trudy Wade (R - Guilford) and would by law, prevent DENR, the Environmental Management Commission, and any other branch of state government from developing or implementing a state or federal plan to comply with EPA’s Clean Power Plan until such time as any legal challenge to the rule is resolved. The final EPA carbon rule is expected to be released the first week of August.
In contrast, H 571 as passed by the NC House in April directed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to work with various other State entities, experts, and stakeholders to develop a state plan for compliance with federal Clean Power Plan requirements. This (stakeholder processes) is the path that many other states have already taken. EPA has the authority to impose a federal implementation plan for states that fail to submit a plan.
“The Senate plan is an open invitation to EPA to impose a federal plan on North Carolina, instead of our state having a plan we develop for ourselves,” said Dustin Chicurel-Bayard, communications director for the NC Sierra Club. “The Senate has turned the House proposal on its head. The House bill would have set up a broad stakeholder process that DENR would convene to get North Carolina ready for the Clean Power Plan, which will be final in a matter of weeks.”
“Today’s Senate bill does the opposite. It prohibits DENR or any other agency or Commission from planning for the coming EPA rule,” added Chicurel-Bayard. “Many other states have already been planning and holding stakeholder processes to position their states to have the plan that works best for them.
The Senate’s effort to prohibit public input in meeting the EPA carbon reduction goals comes just two days after fifty-seven elected officials from across North Carolina sent a letter calling for Governor Pat McCrory to initiate a stakeholder process to create a compliance plan.
“South Carolina is an example of a state that’s doing it right. They are bringing interested parties to the table. But the Senate PCS would make it illegal for DENR to hold such conversations,” said Chicurel-Bayard. “If North Carolina wishes to avoid a federal implementation plan - the best way to do so is to start today with a stakeholder process and create the best possible plan for North Carolina.”
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