EPA again shows 'disregard' for rule of law, 13 AGs say

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Legal Newsline) - West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday that outlined further legal objections to the agency's plan to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.

Morrisey and attorneys general from 12 other states sent the letter to Gina McCarthy, the EPA administrator, highlighting objections to the EPA's plan to regulate emissions from existing and modified power plants. Morrisey said the EPA failed to include required and critical information in the regulatory dockets of two of its proposed rules.

He alleged that by failing to include key materials in the dockets, the EPA violated Section 307(d) of the Clean Air Act, which should force the proposed rules to be withdrawn.

“This is another blatant example of this agency’s disregard for the rule of law," Morrisey said. "The public has a clear right to know how EPA reached its conclusions. It is abundantly clear that EPA and the Obama administration will not allow anything to get in the way of enacting these illegal, burdensome regulations on coal-fired power plants.”

The letter provided three examples in which the EPA allegedly violated the Clean Air Act. The attorneys general asked the agency to withdraw its proposed rules for the regulation of existing and modified power plants, publish the missing data immediately, and extend the comment period 120 days from the publication date.

“Our office will not ignore the repeated violations of process and law that this agency is using to force its rules for carbon emissions on the states,” Morrisey said. “We will continue to use every tool available to fight for coal miners and the jobs that the coal industry supports.”

The letter was also signed by the attorneys general of Wyoming, South Dakota, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio, North Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Louisiana, Kansas, Indiana and Alabama.