EPA Extends Deadline; Rahall Urges West Virginians to Comment on Carbon Rule

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall, D-WV, today, urged West Virginians to take advantage of the newly extended deadline for public input on the EPA's proposed rule limiting carbon emissions from existing power plants. The EPA has moved its deadline for public comment on the Clean Power Plant Proposed Rule from October 16, to December 1, 2014, giving citizens an additional 45 days to weigh in.

"I have pressed the EPA to keep its comment period open and to listen to the effects its rules will have on real people, on West Virginia's families, our jobs, our communities, and on the reliability of the electric grid," Rahall said. "Now is the time for West Virginians to make their voices heard and help me push back against the short-sightedness of the EPA."

The EPA proposed the new rule for existing power plants on June 2, 2014, announcing a 120-day public comment period and four public hearings in Denver, Atlanta, Washington, DC and Pittsburgh. Rahall has been critical of the EPA for not conducting hearings in West Virginia and other coal-producing states expected to be hard hit by the rule.

"Yesterday, the Government Accountability Office released a report that found retirements of coal-fueled generating capacity in response to increased EPA regulation has actually slighted exceeded the agency's prior projections. That ought to signal a warning to the EPA and the Department of Energy that out-of-control regulation is a threat to electric reliability and our economy," said Rahall.

Comments on the Clean Power Plan Proposed Rule must be received by December 1, 2014 and reference Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602. Comments may be submitted by one of the following methods:

Federal eRulemaking portal: Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.

Internet Explorer 8 and above users: If you are experiencing issues linking directly to the docket in the eRulemaking portal, try one of these methods:

Right click on Federal eRulemaking portal and a menu will appear. To open the docket page in a new window, select "Open" or "Open in new window." To open the docket in a new tab, select "Open in new tab."

Copy and paste the link into the browser's address bar:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602-0001

Try another browser - the link should work without issue using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox web browsers.

Email A-and-R-Docket@epa.gov: Include docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602 in the subject line of the message

Fax: Fax your comments to: 202-566-9744.

Mail: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Mailcode 28221T, Attention Docket ID No. OAR--2013-0602, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.

Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver your comments to: EPA Docket Center, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC, 20460. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.

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