American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015 - 15

IndustryDigest
U.S. House Passes Bill
To Stall Power Plant Rule
WASHINGTON-The U.S. House of
Representatives approved legislation
June 23 intended to slow and/or block
implementation of the Obama
administration's so-called Power Plant
Rule announced in June 2014 to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
According to published reports, the
House voted 247-180 in favor of HR
2042, the Ratepayer Protection Act of
2015, introduced by Energy and
Commerce Committee Chairman Ed
Whitfield, R-Ky. HR 2042 extends the
rule's compliance date until after all
court challenges have been concluded
(AOGR, June 2015, pg. 42). It also
allows any state to opt out of enforcing
the rule if its governor determines that
doing so would have a significant
adverse effect on ratepayers or the
reliability of the state's electric grid.
The administration's Power Plant
Rule envisions a reduction in power
sector carbon dioxide emissions to 30
percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and
a 25 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide
and sulfur dioxide emissions (AOGR,
July 2014, pg. 178). The rule
established guidelines for states to
develop plans to meet state-specific
goals.
HR 2042 now moves to the Senate,
where the Texas Alliance of Energy
Producers notes that the 60 votes
necessary to invoke cloture "will be
difficult to come by," even though "the
majority leader and key committee
chairmen are vocal Environmental
Protection Agency critics."
The Alliance also points out the
White House has threatened to veto HR
2042, "which Congress would have no
hope of overriding." r

EPA issues a final regulation, the court
has no place in judging its legality,
writes Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
According to the circuit court, the
petitioners include coal firm Murray
Energy Corp., and 12 states, including
Ohio, Louisiana, Oklahoma and
Wyoming.
According to the court, the
petitioners argue that the challenge
merits consideration because they
already are incurring costs to prepare
for the final rule. The parties filed suit
to contest EPA's authority to regulate
carbon dioxide emissions from power
plants under Section 111(d) of the
Clean Air Act.
"But courts have never reviewed
proposed rules, notwithstanding the
costs that parties may routinely incur in
preparing for anticipated final rules,"
Kavanaugh writes. "We recognize that
prudent organizations and individuals
may alter their behavior (and thereby
incur costs) based on what they think is
likely to come in the form of new
regulations. But that reality has never
been a justification for allowing courts
to review proposed agency rules."
According to EPA spokeswoman Liz
Purchia, the agency already addressed
the legal foundation for its actions when
the rules were proposed in June 2014.

Purchia states the agency is
scheduled to finalize its Clean Power
Plan by midsummer. ❒

Ohio's Supreme Court
Issues First Decision In
Dormant Mineral Cases

COLUMBUS, OH.-The Ohio
Supreme Court has taken its first step
toward resolving the state's uncertainty
regarding dormant minerals, but, Ohio
Oil & Gas Association Executive Vice
President Shawn Bennett cautions, at
least four other cases are on the court's
docket and another six have been
appealed to the high court.
Legal questions have emerged
because two versions of the Dormant
Mineral Act exist: one enacted in 1989
and an amended statute issued in 2006,
documents filed with the Ohio Supreme
Court state.
The early version suggests that a
severed oil and gas interest dormant for
20 years automatically reverts to the
surface owner without any notice to the
owner of that severed interest, but the
2006 law provides a public notice
requirement that must be initiated
before a severed mineral interest can be

CLARIFICATION

Court Rejects Challenges
To EPA Power Plant Rule
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit has rejected challenges to the
Environmental Protection Agency's
proposed carbon rules for existing
power plants, saying it has no authority
to review pending rules, published
reports confirm.
Petitioners are on record as eager to
challenge the anticipated rules, but until

The photo appearing on the
June issue cover, as well as the
Artificial Lift Technology spread
layout in the June AOGR (page
65), taken by Jim Blecha, was
provided courtesy of Liberty Lift
Solutions LLC.

JULY 2015 15
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015
