Congressmen question McCarthy on EPA cooperation for Codification of Clean Air Act provision

Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy on Monday requesting information on EPA cooperation, or lack thereof, with the codification of a provision in the Clean Air Act.

“In this case, codification would remove an un-executable remnant of statutory language enacted in the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act,” said the letter. “However, the agency has put great reliance on this language in its recently finalized regulations for existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units, issued pursuant to section 111 (d) of the Clean Air Act.”

Upton, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Murphy, chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Committee, and Whitfield, chairman of the Energy and Power Subcommittee, suggest that the EPA purposefully inhibited the provisions codification. The representatives point to documented and unsuccessful efforts by the bipartisan Office of Law Revision Counsel (OLRC) to work with the EPA on the Clean Air Act’s codification.

“EPA’s failure to cooperate in this statutorily prescribed process raises serious questions about EPA’s statements of authority to promulgate its 111(d) rule,” said the letter. “At this time, we seek information to evaluate EPA’s decisions and actions surrounding this codification process.”