Tennessee Should Look to West Virginia on How to Bypass Harmful EPA Regulations

Environmental Protection Agency HQ (Washington, D.C.)

States are often burdened by the federal government with crippling regulations that usually come in any number of disguises, including public health and safety. Newly-proposed 111(d) regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding greenhouse gases from existing power plants are the new battleground for states’ rights.  The regulation would use the outdated Clean Air Act in order to force states into compliance with the new rules, in turn harming local economies through potential tax increases.  This has spurred action by state legislatures and governors who knew that if they didn’t act, these regulations could be damaging to taxpayers statewide.

Last week, West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin (D) showed his leadership by signing HB 2004, which would shift authority over submission of compliance plans with EPA regulations.  The legislation stated that, “The new bill, HB 2004, amends the existing law to make the DEP [Department of Environmental Protection], as a state agency, unable to submit the state’s compliance plan to the EPA. Instead, the plan would first have to be submitted to the Legislature for approval.”

Following in the footsteps of West Virginia, legislation introduced by Tennessee State Rep. Kelly Keisling (R), TN HB 0868, would ensure that any plans for compliance with the new EPA rules would be subject to approval of the state legislature. In short, Tennessee would have more authority on how they implement energy policy, not the EPA.  According to a summary of the Bill:

As introduced, requires legislative approval of a state plan to implement Section 111(d) of the EPA’s guidelines before the plan can be submitted to the EPA. – Amends TCA Title 43 and Title 68.

Legislation is popping up at the state level because the 111 (d) regulations are a far cry from what the Clean Air Act was ever intended to do.  And, to make matters worse, the agency is still secretive as to how they will implement the new regulation.  News coming out of a recent conference of stakeholders didn’t do much to sway concerns over what the final composition of the regulations will be:

But the message, delivered at the winter meetings of the National Association of Utility Regulatory Commissioners and a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission technical conference, left many in attendance skeptical. While officials said they will make changes to address concerns raised over the proposed rule issued last June, they offered few details.

This lack of transparency only bolsters the wide-spread concern over the continued use of federal agencies and executive authority by the White House to bypass Congress.

The good news is that not only are states like West Virginia and Tennessee being proactive to stop this new regulation, other states are following. The National Conference of State Legislatures noted the increased action at the state level:

Twenty states have introduced 34 resolutions concerning EPA’s regulations on carbon dioxide emissions; 20 resolutions have been adopted in 16 states. The majority of these resolutions emphasize state authority to develop and implement regulations, as directed by the Clean Air Act.

TPA applauds the states that are protecting themselves from these harmful regulations.  And, we encourage all states to try and stop federal government overreach.