No doubt the EPA is trembling (or snickering?) at the sight of House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton’s media release about the EPA’s so-called “Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.”
PRESS RELEASE
Upton Expresses Concern Over Impacts of EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution RuleRule Taken Together With Other Rules Will Impose Costly Burdens on American Families and Businesses
July 7, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) reiterated calls for careful regulation that protects jobs and affordable energy after the Obama administration today released its Cross-State Air Pollution Rule addressing power plant emissions.
“The goal for these rules should be reasonable regulation that protects public health and the environment while also preserving economic growth. Unfortunately, the unprecedented pace at which the administration is issuing major new rules that impose new costs and regulatory requirements on states, employers and consumers fails that basic test,” said Upton. “By issuing multiple regulations for the energy and other sectors at such an accelerated rate, EPA has turned regulation from a manageable tool into an unpredictable moving target that makes it difficult for companies to invest and create jobs.”
The final Cross-State Air Pollution Rule replaces the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), which EPA published in 2005 authorizing states to coordinate emissions reductions through the adoption of state implementation plans with interstate trading. According to EPA’s estimates, the projected annualized compliance costs are $1.4 billion in 2012 and $800 million in 2014.
The new rule applies to 27 states in the Eastern half the United States and affects 3,642 electric generating units at 1,081 facilities.
In addition to today’s rule, EPA has separately proposed a number of other rules that will significantly impact energy production and the economy including the agency’s Utility MACT Rule, estimated by the agency to impose new compliance costs of $10.9 billion annually, and the proposed revised National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone, estimated to cost $19 to $90 billion annually. The agency also plans to propose greenhouse gas standards for power plants later this year.
This rule will cost billions of dollars to implement and will produce no public health/environmental benefits because, as pointed out in “EPA’s Clean Air Act: Pretending air pollution is worse than it is,” there are no air quality problems in the affected states.