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Monday, February 15, 2016

States: EPA Defying Supreme Court Halt of Climate Rule

A new fight emerged Friday between states and the Environmental Protection Agency over whether the Obama administration can still work with states on its climate rules during a Supreme Court stay.

Attorneys general representing 29 states suing the EPA over its climate rules, called the Clean Power Plan, sent a letter to the heads of associations representing state utility and air regulators advising them that states are under no legal obligation to continue to work with the administration on compliance plans.

"We want to ensure that states understand that there is no legal obligation to continue to spend taxpayer funds on compliance efforts and that, in the unlikely event the Power Plan is ultimately upheld by the courts more than a year from now, there will be ample time then to restart those efforts," attorneys general Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia and Ken Paxton of Texas wrote in the letter.

The attorneys general were responding to news reports that EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy met with a group of state regulators in Washington on Thursday, encouraging them to continue working on compliance with the Clean Power Plan despite the stay.

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1 comment:

Thornton Crowe said...

This is what happens when any Gov agency is left unfettered by any oversight. EPA has been running footloose and fancy free since its creation. Perhaps it's time to revisit this as now they are blatantly violating constitutional law by ignoring SCOTUS ruling.