When the EPA issued its final rule on the Clean Power Plan last week, it also extended the deadline for which states must be in compliance and increased the amount of greenhouse gas reductions.
States now have until 2022 for power plants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 32 percent over the 2005 level. The original plan called for a reduction of 30 percent by 2020.
The final rule also differs from that set forth in 2014 by removing state-by-state targets and instead opting to allow states to develop their own plan using one of two options provided by the EPA. These options include:
1. Emissions standard plan which includes “source-specific requirements ensuring all affected power plants within the state meet their required emission performance rates or state-specific rate-based or mass-based goal.”
2. State measures plan which includes “a mixture of measures implemented by the state, such as renewable energy standards and programs to improve residential energy efficiency that are not included as federally enforceable components of the plan.”
More information can be found on EPA’s Clean Power Plan fact sheet.