WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., is supporting two measures aimed at blocking the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) so-called “Clean Power Plan.” The bipartisan proposals authored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., (S.J.Res. 23) and Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., (S.J.Res. 24) would overturn the Obama Administration’s restrictive regulations for new and existing coal-fired power plants.

“Congress is taking strong steps to challenge this regulatory assault,” Wicker said. “The President’s agenda is a blatant overreach that would destroy jobs and lead to skyrocketing energy costs for people and businesses in Mississippi. Even those who agree with the goal of these regulations have said that EPA’s plan cannot work for our state.”

Under the “Congressional Review Act” (CRA), Congress can overturn actions by a federal agency, like EPA, following the formal publication and submission of a rule to Congress. If the two CRAs are enacted into law, they would nullify both sections of the costly power rule even if portions of the plan have already gone into effect. Leader McConnell is expected to schedule votes soon on the two proposals, which are co-authored by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D, respectively.

The Administration’s expensive plan consists of two major phases of implementation:

• First, the finalized regulation would limit the construction of new coal-fired plants. This portion would effectively ban coal-fired power plants from being built in the future, thus eliminating the potential for coal jobs in America.
  
  
• Second, the Administration has proposed and finalized a regulation to cut carbon-dioxide emissions from existing power plants. In effect, this regulation would force the closures of coal-fired power plants throughout the country.

Wicker was joined by Mississippi’s entire congressional delegation in sending a letter to EPA, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the White House Office of Management and Budget calling for an investigation into whether carbon-dioxide reduction goals associated with the Clean Power Plan are achievable at a reasonable cost – specifically for Mississippi.