12.06.18

Hoeven Statement on Revised EPA Standards for New Coal-Generating Power Plants

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today issued the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposal to replace regulations from the previous administration governing emissions from new, modified and reconstructed coal-fired power plants.

“This proposal builds upon our record of providing regulatory relief and certainty,” said Hoeven. “The previous administration’s rule attempted to force standards that were neither technically nor commercially viable. Under these changes, energy producers will be able to continue relying on all of our nation’s energy resources and provide affordable and reliable electricity. At the same time, we continue to advance new technologies that will actually empower us to reduce emissions without undermining our nation’s energy security.”

Hoeven continues to support the development of new technologies to reduce emissions from both traditional and renewable energy sources. To this end, Hoeven worked as a member of the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Committee to secure the following priorities in the Fiscal Year 2019 funding legislation that was recently signed into law:

  • $30 million to support the development of commercial-scale carbon capture technology to be retrofitted on an existing power plant, funding for which the next phase of Project Tundra would be eligible.
  • $25 million to develop supercritical CO2 technologies for coal and natural gas plants like the Allam Cycle.
  • Increased funding for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) carbon capture and storage research programs.
  • A provision supporting DOE’s cooperative agreements with institutions like the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota.

The senator also continues working to advance his CO2 Regulatory Certainty Act, which would ensure developers of CCS projects can use the Section 45Q tax credit, as well as an extension of the Section 45 refined coal tax credit.

-###-