EPA Grants McConnell's Request; Gives Kentuckians More Time to Voice Their Concerns on Proposed Anti-Coal Rule

Press Release

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell announced today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has agreed to a 45-day extension for its proposed regulations targeting Kentucky coal jobs and miners -- thus allowing more time for Kentuckians and those in coal states to voice their concerns on EPA's proposed anti-coal rule. The deadline to comment on the rule is now December 1, 2014.

Senator McConnell joined a bipartisan majority of Senators in urging EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to give more time to their constituents to comment on the proposed rule. The letter that Senator McConnell and others sent to EPA said, "the proposed rule imposes a heavy burden on the states during the rulemaking process… extension is critical to ensure that state regulatory agencies and other stakeholders have adequate time to fully analyze and comment on the proposal… [which] regulates or affects the generation, transmission, and use of electricity in every corner of this country."

"With the EPA agreeing to our request for an extension, Kentuckians will now have more time to tell the agency how the proposed regulation will affect them. It will also allow more time to accurately assess the damage that such a terrible, unprecedented rule would have on our state, particularly on Kentucky's miners and their families and those who otherwise rely on coal for their livelihood," Senator McConnell said.

Source