FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 22, 2015) – The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC) has filed a petition for reconsideration with the federal Environmental Protect Agency (EPA) regarding the EPAs final 111(d) rule, the reduction of carbon emissions by existing power plants. In the letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, EEC Secretary Charles G. Snavely said the final rule differed greatly from the proposed rule on which Kentucky and other states were asked to comment.
“Many of these changes are so dramatic and unanticipated that it would have been ‘impracticable,’ if not impossible, for the Commonwealth to raise objections about these changes during the public comment period,” Secretary Snavely said in the petition.
EPA used a new methodology in the Final Rule to calculate emissions targets. As a result, the state-specific emission rate targets and mass-based targets in the final rule are significantly lower than the targets in the proposed rule, according to the petition.
“Moreover, EPA failed to do a state-by-state cost-benefit analysis, and these targets were set without considering those state-specific impacts. State-by-state cost-benefit analysis will demonstrate that the targets for Kentucky have a devastating effect on ratepayers, the economy, and the standard of living in the Commonwealth and other similarly situated states. We urge the EPA to reconsider altering the carbon emission targets so dramatically without allowing for meaningful public comment.”
The petition was filed under the federal Clean Air Act Section 307 which allows petitioners to request the EPA convene proceedings for consideration of allowing public comment on the final rule. A downloadable PDF of the petition is available online at http://tinyurl.com/qzkwp2a.
