JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (March 16, 2016) – A Missouri House committee passed a bill yesterday that would take a small, but important, first step in setting the foundation to reject some federal EPA rules and regulations in practice.
Rep. Jack Bondon (R-Belton) introduced House Bill 2543 (HB2543) in February. The legislation would require the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Air Conservation Commission and all other state agencies to immediately suspend all activity related to complying with the EPA Clean Power Plan. The state would not be able to resume creating any state plan to comply with the FDA regulations until litigation relating to the implementation of the plan has been “fully adjudicated” and the General Assembly approves resumption of activity.
The House Energy and Environment Committee approved the measure 11-0.
HB2543 would put at least a small part of the process under control of the legislature and would provide the opportunity for the public to engage in the process. If the legislature were to simply to refuse to approve resumption of state plan development, it could effectively nullify the Clean Power Act in the state.
While the proposed law would not guarantee the state would ultimately reject compliance with EPA mandates, it sets the foundation to do so. It also brings the entire process into the public spotlight. As it currently stands, the state agencies and the EPA can work behind the scenes to adopt such plans without any public or legislative input at all. The state departments acts, in practice, like a part of the federal government.
With the federal courts putting a “pause” on federal implementation of some of the Clean Power Plan, HB2543 creates a foundation that could eventually lead to fully blocking unconstitutional EPA Clean Power Plan mandates. By stopping all work on state compliance, it would also allow legislators to evaluate the federal mandates and take further action. Passage would begin to place the process back in the hands of the state, thus diminishing the power of the federal agency. The legislation also sets the stage for more aggressive action such as refusing cooperation with the enforcement of EPA rules and regulations.
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The bill was referred to the Select Committee on Utilities where it will have to pass by a majority vote before moving on to the full House.
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