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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 11, 2015 ATTORNEY GENERAL STRANGE JOINS LEGAL CHALLENGE OVER EPA’s REJECTION OF STATE PLANS CONTROLLING CARBON EMISSIONS DURING POWER PLANT STARTUPS, SHUTDOWNS (MONTGOMERY) — Attorney General Luther Strange announced today that Alabama has joined 16 other states in a legal action against the Environmental Protection Agency for illegally invalidating the individual air quality protection plans in those states. In June, the EPA issued a final rule requiring 35 states, including Alabama, to revise their individual State Implementation Plans governing carbon emissions during power plant startup, shutdown or malfunction. “Once again the EPA has resorted to taking a sledgehammer approach in forcing its politically-driven agenda on states,” said Attorney General Strange. “For decades, states – including Alabama – have adequately ensured compliance with the carbon emission standards set for power plant shutdowns and startups during times of maintenance or repair. Now the EPA is hastily and illegally reversing course in an attempt to settle a lawsuit with an environmental group.” While the Clean Air Act assigns the EPA the primary responsibility of identifying air pollutants that pose a threat to public health and to set national air quality standards, it also gives the states the primary responsibility to determine how to achieve those standards. The EPA’s rush to settle the matter has led the agency to adopt an illegal final rule that is in conflict with the Clean Air Act and imposes on Alabama’s right to determine the most effective strategy for achieving air quality standards. Today, Attorney General Strange joined Florida and 15 other states in filing a petition for review in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking the Court to review the EPA’s final rule. Besides the clear violation of states’ rights under the Clean Air Act, the final rule also stands to stall or reverse progress the plaintiffs have made in improving the quality of the air in their states. Click link below to read petition for review --30-- | ||
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AG Strange Joins Challenge of EPA Rejection of State Controls of Carbon Emissions for Power Plant Shutdowns, Startups
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