Two ex-EPA administrators back Clean Power Plan

OREANDA-NEWS. December 04, 2015. Two former US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrators are backing the agency in its legal defense of the Clean Power Plan regulations to cut CO2 emissions from existing power plants.

William Ruckelshaus and William Reilly today asked the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to allow them to file what is known as a "friend of the court" brief in support of EPA in litigation against the Clean Power Plan. Such briefs are filed by people who are not direct parties in court cases but who can provide information that may help a court make a decision.

The pair, who each served under Republican presidents, said the Clean Power Plan "represents the very kind of pollution control program" they supported while leading the agency. It falls "well within the bounds" of an administrator's authority to use "reasonable" interpretations of the Clean Air Act to address problems such as climate change that may not have been envisioned by Congress when it enacted the law, they said.

The plan "provides for simultaneously pragmatic, flexible and cost-effective pollution-control programs, and it properly respects state sovereignty by providing states with substantial authority and flexibility," they said.

Ruckelshaus served as the first and fifth administrator of EPA, serving under Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Reilly was the agency's seventh leader, appointed by President George HW Bush.

The Clean Power Plan is being challenged in court by 26 states, a dozen business groups and a number of power generators and coal producers, including Luminant, Murray Energy, Southern Co. and Westar Energy. EPA is backed by 18 states, a dozen environmental and clean energy groups, along with utilities and power producers such as Austin Energy, Calpine, National Grid, NextEra Energy and Pacific Gas & Electric.

EPA is due to respond today to seven separate motions to stay implementation of the plan while the court hears the lawsuits.

The Clean Power Plan requires 47 states to meet CO2 targets for their power sectors in 2022-2030. The states have until September 2016 to submit initial compliance plans to EPA, with final plans due two years later. EPA says states can use a wide range of measures to meet the CO2 targets, but the agency is encouraging emissions trading as a primary compliance option.