DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
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She also emphasized that new regulations to limit emissions from power plants and other stationary sources would be phased in, giving Congress time to write laws instead. She told reporters after testifying on Capitol Hill that the EPA still plans to finalize those regulations in March, though a delay in the effectives of the rules will give companies time to plan for new regulations in the event that Congress doesn't act.
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"It's very respectful of our prerogatives," Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.) said of the EPA's decision to delay the regulations. "I think they want to give us the opportunity to legislate."
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The EPA chief portrayed her decision to delay the start of rules to 2011 as responding to lawmakers "of my own party" who fear that EPA rules will damage their local economies. The biggest threat is from Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D., W.Va.), who last week lobbed a hardball at the EPA when he led a group of Democrats in urging the agency to suspend planed regulations of greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants and other stationary sources. Many of those facilities use coal, a big source of revenue for West Virginia.
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The Obama administration's outreach appeared to pay off on Tuesday, when Rockefeller told reporters that he would not support an amendment from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) who is seeking to block the EPA from regulating greenhouse-gas emissions. The Republican lawmaker has lined up her own supporters for the amendment, which could force Senators to cast an uncomfortable vote on a controversial issue in an election year.
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Rockefeller said that he couldn't support the amendment because it "obliterates all EPA's functions," especially the agency's plans to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from motor vehicles. The amendment would overturn an EPA finding that greenhouse gases pose a danger to public health and welfare. That could undercut a carefully crafted deal on motor vehicle emissions, since "the actual rules are predicated on the finding of endangerment," the EPA's Jackson warned the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday. The motor vehicle rules are to be finalized next month and will take effect beginning with cars made for the 2011 model year.
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The direction that the Senate takes remains unclear, since lawmakers are in a stalemate over climate legislation. Rockefeller said that his bill would give the EPA "the powers that they need to have" but would give more time for the greenhouse-gas rules for power plants and other such facilities to take effect. He said that an additional six- to 12-month delay beyond what the EPA has already announced would be appropriate.
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The Obama administration has been trying to start up a domestic electric vehicle industry, pouring billions of dollars into Michigan and Indiana to build the batteries and parts needed for a new generation of vehicles. But the demand for those vehicles is tied to federal fuel-efficiency standards, which effectively mandate that a certain share of the market consist of vehicles that run at least in part on electricity. Without federal standards, the demand for those vehicles is uncertain.
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-By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires, siobhan.hughes@dowjones.com, 202-862-6654
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=jJxlthnersh%2FZz%2FRIMyvFw%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 23, 2010 16:52 ET (21:52 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 04 52 PM EST 02-23-10
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