EPA Chief Tours Little Rock’s Creative Corridor, Defends Clean Power Plan

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy on Wednesday (Oct. 7) defiantly shook off criticism that the final rules for the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan have been purposely delayed, saying federal regulators have moved forward as swiftly as possible to publish details of the president’s climate change plan.

On Aug. 3, the EPA released its final rules on President Obama’s far-reaching and controversial “Clean Power Plan,” putting the nation on track to cut carbon pollution from the power sector 32% below 2005 levels by 2030.

Since then, however, the EPA has not yet filed the 1,560 pages of regulations with the Federal Register, which prevents Arkansas and other states from moving forward with implementing their own plans or mounting any legal challenges to keep the historic plan from becoming law.

As EPA chief, McCarthy made her first-ever trip to Arkansas in recognition of National Children’s Health Month in Little Rock, where she joined a host of city representatives and students from eStem Public Charter School for an outdoor classroom on the newly completed Creative Corridor in the downtown area. According to EPA Press Secretary Melissa Harrison, Little Rock has been awarded more than $2 million as a participant in the agency’s Greening America’s Capitals project, which was initiated in 2010 to help state capitals develop and implement environmentally friendly neighborhoods that incorporate innovative green infrastructure strategies.

Through the program, EPA provides design assistance to help support sustainable communities that protect the environment, economy, and public health and to inspire state leaders to expand this work elsewhere.

During her tour of the city’s Creative Corridor on Wednesday, McCarthy engaged with the eStem students who were involved in developing the design plan for the Main Street green project that incorporates rain gardens and improved crosswalks to make the street more attractive and to better manage storm water. In a heartfelt talk with the students, McCarthy encouraged and thanked the students for their ideas and involvement in the environmental project.

“As you go to school, I just want to congratulate (you) for allowing me to be outside with you and learn about the world we live,” McCarthy said. “I think for a while we forgot about that …, but we know we need to give you clean air and clean water and nice places. One of the great things about this is that it is not only really healthy for our air and climate efforts, but it is also a really nice place to be.”

McCarthy then challenged the group of K-12 students from the local charter school to be advocates and good stewards of the environment.

“As you grow up, people are going to tell you that you have to back off on those really tough environmental questions and standards because you might lose a job,” McCarthy told the students. “But what we are doing here is making sure we have a strong economy and good environment because people need good jobs – but we also need to make sure the world is a better place for all us.”

McCarthy, who was shadowed during the tour by Little Rock City Manager Bruce Moore and state Department of Environmental Quality Director Becky Keogh, also thanked the students and local school, community, city and state officials for partnering with the EPA to help develop sustainable and environmental-friendly communities.

“What I like about this is that the state has worked on this, your towns and cities have worked on this, and you guys have listened to be people outside in the public as to what matters and to what feels good – and this is a great place to live,” said the EPA chief. “It’s a great thing to be able to be working with you guys and know that you are going to be the environmentalists of the future.”

McCarthy closed her comments to the students by asking for a show of hands and shouting: “Who’s going to go and work for the EPA?”

Before completing her tour, McCarthy spent a few minutes with reporters answering questions about the president’s Clean Power Plan, which was finalized in August with widespread criticism from Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, the entire Arkansas congressional delegation and state’s largest business lobby.

On Wednesday, ahead of McCarthy’s trip to Little Rock, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his office had made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for communications between the EPA and the Office of the Federal Register regarding the publication of the Clean Power Plan. The request, which was joined by Rutledge and AG offices in 13 other states, complained that McCarthy signed the final carbon emission rules on Aug. 3, but has yet to publish them in the Federal Register.

Morrisey said states are not permitted to file a petition for review against EPA under the Clean Air Act until the rule is published. Already, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has thrown out two challenges to the president’s climate change plan from Morrissey, Rutledge and other attorneys generals, saying in part that the plaintiffs’ lawsuits were prematurely filed before the federal agency had drafted final rules.

“We want to help the public understand why one of most widely criticized rules in our nation’s history is being subject to such unexplained delays. This harms the States and undermines the availability of review by our courts,” Morrisey said on Wednesday.

But McCarthy responded during the Little Rock tour that the EPA has been fully transparent concerning the process that will allow Arkansas and other states eventually come up with a plan to comply with the federal mandate.

“We will certainly respond to any FOI request as we always do, and we want to be as transparent as possible,” McCarthy said. “But we’ve addressed this issue before and in hearings as well, and we have filed the appropriate paperwork with the Federal Register and (we) are moving forward as quickly as we can.”

McCarthy added that Clean Power Plan is “a very long record” that will take time to file, but said the EPA has done everything in its power to expedite the process. She also pushed back against criticism from Morrissey, Rutledge and other AG offices that they haven’t had a chance to see the final rules.

“We know people want to see it,” McCarthy said of the final Clean Power Plan rules, also known as Regulation 111 (d). “But, don’t forget that everything that is in the Federal Register has always and also been available to people already. … So we are not holding any secrets, (but) it’s about making sure it goes through the appropriate steps so that it becomes a legal document that is binding, and the most important thing for us is that we are following the process as we should.”

Any legal challenges to the EPA rule could take years to progress through the court process, court experts have said. Under Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s directive, state regulators and industry leaders are moving forward with planning for a potential state plan to implement the so-called “dirty air” regulations.

Rutledge has indicated that she plans to mount a legal challenge to the plan once final rules are published. The Arkansas AG said in September she believes she has a strong legal case against the EPA that would prevail in court once the case is heard.