(ROCKWALL, TX — June 30, 2016) Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) led 111 House colleagues last week in calling for clarification on compliance dates for the EPA’s sweeping energy regulations issued last August. This effort comes on the heels of the Supreme Court’s February decision to push pause on the implementation of the so-called “Clean Power Plan” regulations until their legality is determined in court.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), placing a hold on the implementation of the EPA’s regulations implicitly extended all associated interim deadlines. However, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy contradicted this in a March hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee when she said, “Well that’s not what the Supreme Court said, but we assume that the courts will make that judgement over time or will leave that to the EPA to make their own judgement.”
As a result, it remains unclear whether parties subject to the EPA’s regulations should move forward with costly compliance measures despite the immediate – and potentially permanent – hold on their actual implementation or risk being penalized for not meeting deadlines if their legality is upheld.
“From the moment the administration released its so-called ‘Clean Power Plan’ as a part of the president’s radical agenda on climate change, it was clear these sweeping regulations would wreak havoc on hard-working families and businesses in Texas and throughout the country,” Ratcliffe said.
“It came as no surprise that the legality of these regulations has been repeatedly challenged, and it is simply unfair to leave Americans in the dark on whether the interim deadlines for compliance will be extended in accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision to delay final implementation.”
Ratcliffe has been committed to combatting the EPA’s harmful regulations since they were first announced by the administration last year. In September, he introduced disapproval measures (H.J. Res. 68 and H.J. Res. 67) in the House aimed at preventing skyrocketing energy costs and the elimination of jobs across the country projected to result from the regulations. In December, he voted for nearly identical measures (S.J. Res. 23 and S.J. Res. 24), which passed in both the House and Senate.
Click here to view the full letter sent to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
Submitted by Rachel Stephens, press secretary, Congressman John Ratcliffe (TX-04).
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