The Environmental Protection Agency has extended by 45 days the comment period for its proposal to limit power plant emissions, according to a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner.
The comment period for the proposed rule was set to close Oct. 16, but lawmakers had pressed the EPA for more time. A letter to Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said the EPA would grant an extension until Dec. 1.
“Recognizing that the proposal asks for comment on a range of issues, some of which are complex, the EPA initially proposed this rule with a 120-day comment period. The EPA has decided to extend the comment period by an additional 45 days, in order to get the best possible advice and data to inform a final rule,” EPA Air and Radiation Administrator Janet McCabe said in the letter.
The rule, initially proposed in June, aims to slash electricity emissions 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. It was scheduled to be finalized next June, and McCabe told reporters in a conference call that the extension wouldn’t affect the agency’s timeline.
“We are still working toward a June deadline to finish up the rule,” McCabe said. “The message this sends is we want to get the best rule possible.”
Republicans, centrist Democrats and industry groups have fought the proposal, saying it would raise energy prices. But it has many supporters among Democrats, as well as in the public health and environmental fields, because they say it will reduce carbon emissions that most scientists say drive climate change and shutter older coal-fired power plants that emit pollutants linked to heart and respiratory ailments.
McCabe said that requests for an extension came “from a variety of different stakeholders.”
