TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - Florida is challenging the Environmental Protection Agency over a rule requiring the state to revise its plan on governing carbon emissions from power plants, said Florida Attorney General Pan Bondi on Aug. 11.
Bondi said she is leading the legal action along with 16 other attorneys general that is questioning the legality of the EPA's rule that would force three states to revise the plans during a power plant startup, shutdown or malfunction.
“We will not step aside while the EPA, through heavy-handed federal overreach, threatens to upend a system that the EPA has approved multiple times and has provided a consistent, reliable framework to safely provide electricity to millions of Floridians across the state,” Bondi said. “Furthermore, the agency’s action could result in higher utility bills for Florida consumers.”
Bondi and the other attorneys general contend that under the Clean Air Act the EPA is responsible for identifying air pollutants that are a possible threat to public health and set national air quality standards, but it also give states the “primary responsibility” to determine how to reach those standards.
Bondi further said that the final rule from the EPA requiring the states change their plans came after the agency agreed to a settlement. The new rule “is in conflict with the Clean Air Act,” Bondi said.