U.S. House Panel Asks EPA for Info on Pollution Rules

Reuters

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are requesting information about how the Environmental Protection Agency's air pollution rules will affect the country's power grid, and whether regulations are advancing too fast on electricity generators.

The move was the latest by Republicans in the House who want to stop EPA's regulatory efforts, believing they will cost jobs and drive up energy prices.

Republicans Fred Upton, the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Ed Whitfield, and Cliff Stearns sent letters to the heads of the EPA, the Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, requesting information on how the rules would affect the delivery of power, power prices and jobs in the industry.

"The committee is concerned that the Obama EPA has been regulating too much too fast, without fully analyzing the feasibility and economic impacts of its new rules," Upton said in a release.

The EPA has rolled out rules this year on emissions of toxic substances like mercury from power plants and requiring big industries including electricity generators, oil refiners and manufacturers to hold permits for emitting greenhouse gases.

In addition, the EPA is set to roll out proposed rules to limit greenhouse gases from power plants in July. It will propose similar rules on oil refiners in December.

The EPA, which did not immediately respond to questions about the panel's request, has said its rules on polluters will create jobs, protect human health, and reduce dependence on foreign oil by pressuring companies to move faster to cleaner forms of energy.

The House easily passed a bill last month to stop the EPA climate program, but the vote was largely symbolic as the Senate voted down a similar measure.