The American Public Power Association and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association are asking the Environmental Protection Agency to allow for an additional 60 days for parties to comment on an EPA proposed rule to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units.
EPA published the proposed rule on May 23 and provided a 60-day public comment period that will end on July 24, 2023.
In seeking an extension of the comment period, APPA and NRECA noted that the proposal has significant economic and operational implications for the electric sector.
“There is a substantial amount of material to review to fully understand EPA’s proposal and provide meaningful comment. The proposal includes the 181-page proposed rule, a 359-page regulatory impact analysis, and references several technical supporting documents that have yet to be posted to the rulemaking docket,” they said.
EPA has also solicited comment on dozens of various topics in the proposed rule preamble. “The Associations and their members need additional time to evaluate EPA’s proposal, the supporting documents and analyses, and develop responses to EPA’s requests for comment.”
In addition to the proposed rule, there are currently open comment periods on other complex EPA proposed rules directly affecting cooperatives and public power utilities, the groups noted.
“These concurrent comment periods on five other extremely technical and significant proposed rules create challenges as cooperatives and public power utilities work to thoughtfully respond to each proposal.”
APPA and NRECA also said that when EPA first proposed New Source Performance Standards or fossil fuel-fired electric generating units in 2014, it provided a 120-day comment period following a 60-day extension.
“And when EPA proposed emissions guidelines for existing sources later that year, the agency’s initial 120-day comment period was later extended by an additional 45 days. Importantly, those comment periods were not concurrent – the NSPS comment period ended more than a month before the comment period for the proposed emissions guidelines opened.”
Providing half of that comment period “on this most recent power plant proposal would be woefully insufficient for the type of input EPA has requested, particularly because the package includes five actions in one.”
APPA and NRECA therefore requested a 60-day extension of the comment period. “Providing an extension of the comment period will allow all stakeholders additional time to analyze the proposal and provide more thoughtful comments.”
