Update on AREPS Repeal/Net MeteringVickie Wolfe First of all, in case you missed it: the Gazette’s Ken Ward got his hands on the Coal Association’s “West Virginia Coal Legislative Program 2015” and put it up on the Gazette’s website here.
As you can see near the top of page 8, repeal of the Alternative and Renewable Portfolio Standard was part of coal’s “program;” they assert that “the . . . thresholds of 15% by 2020 and 25% by 2025 could negatively affect the coal burn in West Virginia.” More WVDEP Budget and Civil PenaltiesRob Goodwin The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection presented its budget last week to the House Finance Committee. The most substantive part of the discussion following the presentation from Secretary Huffman was a request from Del. Nancy Peoples Guthrie, who asked Secretary Huffman to provide to the committee information regarding when the last time civil penalties maximums were adjusted. Secretary Huffman agreed to provide that information to the committee, but volunteered the information that surface mining civil penalties have never been increased since the regulations were first established decades ago. More Support Category A Protection for Our WatersVickie Wolfe The DEP has proposed a rule change that would restore "Category A" protection for the Kanawha River. If the rule change is approved, West Virginia American Water would have the option of placing a second intake on the Kanawha near WVAW's Charleston treatment plant. More A Little More about Coal’s Wish ListVickie Wolfe Elsewhere in this issue of Green, we’ve mentioned the Coal Association’s Legislative Program 2015. Another item we'd like you to note is the Association's "request" regarding Aboveground Storage Tanks (p. 8), which reads, in part: ". . . it is clear the Association should work to amend the statute to exempt as many tanks at coal mining operations from most of the provisions of the statute as possible." More Energy Efficiency is Good for West Virginians. Amend Com Sub HB 2004.Jim Kotcon HB 2004 amends the WV Air Pollution Control Act (22-5-20) to require legislative approval for any state plan to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from electric power plants. The Committee Substitute also eliminates the language, 22-5-20-(c) (4), that directs a state plan include counting emissions from power plants that closed recently, as well as reductions in emissions from energy efficiency programs. More |
