DEEP DIVE: Seeking Commitments, Lawmakers Draw Diverging Boundaries for EPA Authority

(Editor's Note: 3E is expanding news coverage to provide customers with insights into topics that enable a safer, more sustainable world by protecting people, safeguarding products, and helping businesses grow.  Deep Dive articles, produced by reporters, feature interviews with subject matter experts and influencers as well as exclusive analysis provided by 3E researchers and consultants).

Summary

As U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan continues his tour of Capitol Hill, 3E is there as well, and we're focused on delivering insights from lawmakers and stakeholders directly. This article highlights some of the key developments of his visit and his interactions with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on a variety of environmental issues central to their respective states.

Arizona's emergence as a manufacturing and supply chain hub has been a tremendous boost to the state's economy, but this growth has not come without environmental costs - particularly to the air quality of Maricopa County and the Phoenix metro area.

Following a visit from the new chief of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Office, Joe Goffman, in March, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) secured key commitments from EPA Administrator Michael Regan to facilitate a pair of rules drafted to incentivize economic growth and reduce emissions.

The first, Rule 204, allows companies to earn mobile source emission reduction credits (MERCS) for upgrading a fleet of vehicles to electric or hybrid models or by using cleaner fuels.

Rule 205 focuses on companies considered permitted generators, or those with air quality permits. Using the Arizona Emissions Bank, a company can purchase emissions offsets.

Regan said the EPA Region 9 office is expected to grant final approval to Maricopa County for Rule 205 sometime this summer. This, in turn, will enable Arizona to focus on submitting its state implementation plan (SIP) by the August deadline in compliance with the Clean Air Act (CAA) and receive confirmation from EPA without being assessed a penalty, even if there are some processing delays on EPA's end.

“We will be shifting all of our resources from 205 to 204 to get it done in a timely fashion,” Regan said during a Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee (EPW) hearing 8 May 2024.

Locus of Control

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), poured cold water on EPA's Clean Power Plan (CPP) and its potential to close baseload power plants.

The EPW ranking member added that the CPP “will basically make every coal plant extinct” and raise energy costs, expressing concern that most power plants are not capable of meeting the 90% carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) requirement laid out by EPA.

“I want to push back on the notion that this rule is going after coal,” Regan responded. “I think when we talk to these utility CEOs, they provided to us their plans. Some of these coal plants were already going to sense that because they’re transitioning to natural gas. Some of these coal plants we do believe will be able to take advantage of the CCUS technology.”

Capito also raised a question to Regan about the dynamics of federalism and the scope of state power versus executive authority in noting that EPA rejected 21 SIPs where no changes were proposed to their emissions. The CAA requires EPA to step in when states fail to submit adequate plans or propose insufficient changes.

A Larger Threat

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) prompted Regan to concede that EPA has historically underestimated the severity of methane leaks because industry leaders underreported their emissions.

He also asked Regan about the status of efforts to obtain satellite data to measure methane leaks from agencies like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Congress appropriated $1.55 billion for the entire Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP), Section 136 of the CAA.

While Regan did not confirm when EPA would have access to satellite data, he added EPA had “started the process to acquire” the data.

Whitehouse has been among the most active members of Congress in crafting legislation targeting the reduction of methane emissions, authoring the Methane Emissions Research Act (MERA) in 2022, and a methane fee that was included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that same year.

Both Regan and Whitehouse concurred about the importance of collaborating with Department of Interior (DOI) and Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of Energy (DOE) partners on the Methane Task Force.

“We're trying to be sure to leverage all of our resources together in this whole-of-government approach,” Regan said. “We have moved as aggressively as we possibly can, and we will continue to do so.”

———–

About the author: Stefan Modrich is a Washington, D.C.- based reporter for 3E. He covers the latest developments in environmental health and safety policy and regulation. Modrich previously wrote for S&P Global Market Intelligence, The Arizona Republic and Chicago Tribune. He is an alumnus of Arizona State University and the University of Zagreb.
(Xiaolu Wang contributed to this article).

(Editor's Note: 3E is expanding news coverage to provide customers with insights into topics that enable a safer, more sustainable world by protecting people, safeguarding products, and helping businesses grow.  Deep Dive articles, produced by reporters, feature interviews with subject matter experts and influencers as well as exclusive analysis provided by 3E researchers and consultants).

Summary

As U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan continues his tour of Capitol Hill, 3E is there as well, and we're focused on delivering insights from lawmakers and stakeholders directly. This article highlights some of the key developments of his visit and his interactions with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on a variety of environmental issues central to their respective states.

Arizona's emergence as a manufacturing and supply chain hub has been a tremendous boost to the state's economy, but this growth has not come without environmental costs - particularly to the air quality of Maricopa County and the Phoenix metro area.

Following a visit from the new chief of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Office, Joe Goffman, in March, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) secured key commitments from EPA Administrator Michael Regan to facilitate a pair of rules drafted to incentivize economic growth and reduce emissions.

The first, Rule 204, allows companies to earn mobile source emission reduction credits (MERCS) for upgrading a fleet of vehicles to electric or hybrid models or by using cleaner fuels.

Rule 205 focuses on companies considered permitted generators, or those with air quality permits. Using the Arizona Emissions Bank, a company can purchase emissions offsets.

Regan said the EPA Region 9 office is expected to grant final approval to Maricopa County for Rule 205 sometime this summer. This, in turn, will enable Arizona to focus on submitting its state implementation plan (SIP) by the August deadline in compliance with the Clean Air Act (CAA) and receive confirmation from EPA without being assessed a penalty, even if there are some processing delays on EPA's end.

“We will be shifting all of our resources from 205 to 204 to get it done in a timely fashion,” Regan said during a Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee (EPW) hearing 8 May 2024.

Locus of Control

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), poured cold water on EPA's Clean Power Plan (CPP) and its potential to close baseload power plants.

The EPW ranking member added that the CPP “will basically make every coal plant extinct” and raise energy costs, expressing concern that most power plants are not capable of meeting the 90% carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) requirement laid out by EPA.

“I want to push back on the notion that this rule is going after coal,” Regan responded. “I think when we talk to these utility CEOs, they provided to us their plans. Some of these coal plants were already going to sense that because they’re transitioning to natural gas. Some of these coal plants we do believe will be able to take advantage of the CCUS technology.”

Capito also raised a question to Regan about the dynamics of federalism and the scope of state power versus executive authority in noting that EPA rejected 21 SIPs where no changes were proposed to their emissions. The CAA requires EPA to step in when states fail to submit adequate plans or propose insufficient changes.

A Larger Threat

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) prompted Regan to concede that EPA has historically underestimated the severity of methane leaks because industry leaders underreported their emissions.

He also asked Regan about the status of efforts to obtain satellite data to measure methane leaks from agencies like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Congress appropriated $1.55 billion for the entire Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP), Section 136 of the CAA.

While Regan did not confirm when EPA would have access to satellite data, he added EPA had “started the process to acquire” the data.

Whitehouse has been among the most active members of Congress in crafting legislation targeting the reduction of methane emissions, authoring the Methane Emissions Research Act (MERA) in 2022, and a methane fee that was included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that same year.

Both Regan and Whitehouse concurred about the importance of collaborating with Department of Interior (DOI) and Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of Energy (DOE) partners on the Methane Task Force.

“We're trying to be sure to leverage all of our resources together in this whole-of-government approach,” Regan said. “We have moved as aggressively as we possibly can, and we will continue to do so.”

———–

(Xiaolu Wang contributed to this article).