On Oct. 16, the Environmental Protection Agency published its proposal to repeal the carbon pollution emission guidelines for existing electric power plants, the centerpiece of the Clean Power Plan, 82 Fed. Reg. 48,035. That action serves as a reminder that the current national administration takes seriously its promise to deregulate business under the environmental laws. Indeed, the president claimed publication of the proposal as a significant accomplishment in a tweet on Oct. 15. In Pennsylvania, however, for the most part the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection—not the federal EPA—issues permits and administers the environmental regulations because Pennsylvania’s regulatory program has been delegated or authorized under federal law to satisfy both state and federal requirements. Therefore, a relaxation of federal requirements would not necessarily imply a relaxation of the conditions that a regulated entity in Pennsylvania must meet.
Read more from my article in The Legal Intelligencer supplement, PA Law Weekly, by clicking here.