AR2 REPORT:

EPA OVERREACH IN KEY STATES

Over the past eight years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under
President Obama has wreaked havoc on state economies across America.
President-elect Trump has nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to
serve as the next Administrator of the EPA and ensure that clean air and clean
water are protected without imposing legally questionably and burdensome
regulations that threaten the livelihoods of hardworking Americans.
As Attorney General Pruitts confirmation hearing approaches, below is a review of
how the EPAs overreach under the Obama Administration has been detrimental to
the home states of key Senate Democrats up for re-election in 2018:
WEST VIRGINIA
Clean Power Plan Wreaks Havoc On West Virginia Economy: Gene Trisko of the United
Mine Workers of America based in West Virginia, said the Obama Clean Power plan would
"lead to the cumulative loss of $47 billion of state economic output, $11 billion of household
income, and 229,000 job-years of employment by 2040."
Mining Regulations Destroy Jobs: Jimmy Bo Copley (aka "Miner Bo) testified at an
EPW field hearing October 2016:
o

Every Monday during our weekly safety meetings, we were told how increasingly
difficult it was becoming to acquire mining permits due to EPA regulations. Weekly, we
were told how fortunate we were to not have our pay cut, and how fortunate we were to
be working, in general.

Many times, we would see underground inspectors who had no idea what they were
looking at because they had never been on a surface mine. That would lead to more
violations because of their interpretation of laws. More violations lead to higher cost per
ton. Higher cost per ton leads to less profits. Less profits lead to job loss.

From large companies like Walker Machinery to smaller, locally owned companies like
Guyan Heavy Equipment, every vendor that is related to our industry has taken their
share of loss due to this administrations EPA overreach.

For every coal mining job lost there are countless more that are also affected. Heavy
equipment vendors face the hardship of trying keep people working versus making a
profit. School administrators face decreased funding because their enrollments have
dropped due to people moving to find work. Many commercial businesses have closed
their doors due to the lack of spending in our region. Many small business owners, just
like my wife, see a decline in their business because people dont have the extra money
to pay for things outside their basic needs. Our entire state feels the ramifications of a
targeted industry.

Public Services Suffer As Energy Jobs Disappear: Bob Pasley, Democratic President of
the Wayne County Commission in West Virginia. Wayne County has a population of 42,481
per 2010 Census. He testified at an EPW field hearing October 2016:

Argus Energy and Kiah Creek Transport closed in 2013 resulting in the loss of 236 jobs
directly related to the coal mining industry. In 2015, Alpha Natural Resources closed its
Rockspring mine operation resulting in the loss of 429 jobs.

These energy companies were business partners with local Elementary schools and
provided playground equipment, beautification and equipment repairs, and a number of
other benefits. One of the teachers at the school explained: the loss of the schools
business partner was a severe blow to the school and students.

Wayne Countrys Coal Severance revenues have all but disappeared. Coal severance
revenues were used to help provide ambulance services to citizens, police cruisers for
the sheriffs department, senior citizen programs and economic development.

I have worked at the Wayne County Courthouse for thirty-nine and a half years, thirtyone of which I have served in the elected offices of the County Clerk and County
Commissioner. During that time I do not believe that Wayne County has been so
challenged to provide for its citizens as it is now experiencing and the forecast for the
foreseeable future is bleak.

Electricity Prices Soar Under EPAs Clean Power Plan. An analysis by NERA projects
that under the Clean Power Plan average annual electricity prices will increase by 33% in
West Virginia.
Manufacturers Squeezed By Escalating Energy Costs Due To EPA Regulations.
Charles Farmer, President of Rouster Rope, Wire and Rigging small manufacturing business
that makes wire, rope and rigging for mineral extraction industries in Raleigh County, WV.
His company specializes in tow slings that are used to safely move heavy machinery and
large pieces of earth in mining operations. He testified at the EPW field hearing in March
2015 assessing the impacts of EPA MATS and Clean Power Plan:
o

If you take the time to look around Southern West Virginia, you can see, first-hand, the
impact these regulations are having on our communities. The closed shops, unemployed
miners, and stagnant economic growth arent just statistics they are people.

As an owner of a small manufacturing shop, I operate on margins where a crippling

increase in energy bills would likely force layoffs or even shut us down.

Costly & Burdensome EPA Red Tape Drowns Art Glass Manufacturers: Specialty art
glass manufacturers (for example, makers of stained glass for churches) are not subject to
certain air emission regulations by EPA because they are small facilities that do not operate
24/7. However, earlier this year the EPA decided to take the initial step of expanding these
regulations to cover art glass manufacturers by sending overly burdensome information
request letters. Even though they did not violate any law or regulation, nearly a dozen
small, family-owned art glass manufacturers such as Blenko Glass, Wissmach Glass and
Fenton Glass in West Virginia, as well as Kokomo Glass in Indiana, received these EPA
letters, which cost the facilities tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of man-hours to
comply with. According to one West Virginia news article, Blenko [Glass] has been located
in Milton since 1921. Today, its nearly the sole survivor of a once-thriving West Virginia
glass industry that in the past numbered more than 400 companies. In fact, one
Washington state art glass manufacturer cited the EPAs actions as a major reason to close
business.
INDIANA

Costly & Burdensome EPA Red Tape Drowns Art Glass Manufacturers: Specialty art
glass manufacturers (for example, makers of stained glass for churches) are not subject to
certain air emission regulations by EPA because they are small facilities that do not operate
24/7. However, earlier this year the EPA decided to take the initial step of expanding these
regulations to cover art glass manufacturers by sending overly burdensome information
request letters. Even though they did not violate any law or regulation, nearly a dozen
small, family-owned art glass manufacturers such as Blenko Glass, Wissmach Glass and
Fenton Glass in West Virginia, as well as Kokomo Glass in Indiana, received these EPA
letters, which cost the facilities tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of man-hours to
comply with. According to one West Virginia news article, Blenko [Glass] has been located
in Milton since 1921. Today, its nearly the sole survivor of a once-thriving West Virginia
glass industry that in the past numbered more than 400 companies. In fact, one
Washington state art glass manufacturer cited the EPAs actions as a major reason to close
business.
Farmer Harassed Under Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule: In 2014, a
farmer in Indiana cleared trees from his property to expand his farming operation. The Army
Corps of Engineers claimed that this activity destroyed an ephemeral drainage that the
Corps characterized as a regulated tributary of a water of the United States. The Corps
claimed jurisdiction based on a soil survey (although the Corps did not claim wetlands were
present), Google Earth aerial photographs taken before the trees were cleared, and
speculation that a drainage existed beneath the tree canopy.

The landowner submitted an affidavit from the person who performed the clearing,
affirming that no stream existed on the parcel cleared in 2014 and any marks on the
ground were log skidder tracks from logging that took place in the early 2000s.

In this example, the Corps put the burden on the landowner to show that an ephemeral
drainage, 118 miles from traditional navigable water and 1.5 miles from relatively
permanent non-navigable water did not exist on the property before the trees were
removed. The EPAs WOTUS rule would codify this overreach by allowing the EPA and the
Corps to infer the former existence of a stream, with no evidence of a bed bank and
ordinary high water mark, relying instead on aerial photographs.

Soaring Electricity Cost Increases Kills Jobs, Increases Prices And Harms
Competitiveness. Thomas Easterly, then-Commissioner of the Indiana Department of
Environmental Management under Governor Pence testified at the EPW hearing March
2015:
o

Our analysis came to only one conclusion: This proposal will cause significant harm to
Hoosiers (and most residents of the U.S.), without providing any measurable offsetting
benefits. For these reasons, Indiana's Office of Energy Development, Office of Utility
Consumer Counselor, Department of Natural Resources, Utility Regulatory Commission
and my Agency filed joint comments urging the U.S. EPA to withdraw this proposal.

The total cost of the products produced in the U.S. will need to increase, eroding our
international competitiveness and resulting in the loss of manufacturing jobs in Indiana
and across the nation. When these businesses close, U.S. emissions will decrease, but
worldwide greenhouse gas emissions will increase as our businesses move to areas with
less efficient and more carbon intensive energy supplies.

Indiana once held a competitive advantage due to our low cost of electricity. Not
anymore. Indiana's low cost of electricity advantage has slipped, and EPA regulations
have significantly contributed to that change in position.

The State Utility Forecasting Group (SUFG) in Indiana has forecasted a 30% increase in
Indiana electrical costs in part from U.S. EPA regulations already in place, and the 111(d)
proposal will add additional costs on top of that 30%.

MISSOURI
Low And Middle-Income Families Would Be Crushed By Soaring Electricity Prices
Caused By Clean Power Plan: Missouri State Representative Jack Bondon represents the
56th District of Missouri including Belton and southern Kansas City. He testified before an
EPW hearing in June 2016:
o

Missouri has taken the lead in deciding its own energy future. Unfortunately, the Clean
Power Plan would substitute EPAs energy preferences for Missourians energy choices.

A quick calculation using the EPAs own $37per/ton estimate equates to a cost of over
$6 Billion by 2030, which could increase electricity prices in Missouri by double digits.

In Missouri, we have 1.2 million low-income and middle-income families about half the
states households that already spend 18 cents of every dollar they take home on
energy. And, my constituents tell me that they cannot afford to pay higher electricity
prices caused by the Clean Power Plan.

Waters Of The United States Rule Would Put 99.7% Of Missouri Under EPA
Authority. Sen. Roy Blunt took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to highlight a map produced
by the Missouri Farm Bureau showing that 99.7 percent of the state would be put under EPA
jurisdiction. The Farm Bureau in Missouri has a map that I have brought to the floor now a
number of times--the Farm Bureau map of where the jurisdiction of the EPA would be under
waters of the United States. This is anything that deals with water: a building permit, runoff
from your driveway, resurfacing a parking lot, fertilizer on a farm field, drilling a hole for a
utility pole. Anything that involves water, theoretically, under this rule, could come under
the jurisdiction of the EPA. In my State, anything that would meet the EPA definition of what
could be the definition of their new sense of waters of the United States covers 99.7 percent
of the State.
Costly Bureaucratic Red-Tape Under Lead Renovation Rule Hits More Companies In
Missouri Than Any Other State: The EPA's overreach extends to small businesses that do
painting and home repair who were hit with new costly certification and recordkeeping
requirements even when only a small area is being fixed. These costs were imposed on 19
companies in Missouri - more than any other state.
MONTANA
Farmer Privacy Infringement: The EPA stepped up its collection of information about
farming operations and that included personal privacy information of family farmers in
Montana and elsewhere. It took a federal court of appeals ruling to protect farmers from this
infringement on privacy.
The San Antonio Express-News reported:
o

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated the privacy of farmers in 29 states by
releasing troves of personal data to advocacy groups, according to a ruling this week
from a Minnesota appeals court. The decision is being seen as a victory for farmers who
say the data has exposed them to harassment, trespassing and threats from groups
aiming to expose certain factory farm feeding practices as cruel and bad for the
environment.

EarthJustice, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the National Resources Defense Council filed
requests for the EPAs collected information under the Freedom of Information Act. The
EPA responded with an aggregation of information that in some cases identified not only
farmers and their addresses, but also cellphone numbers of spouses, employees, names
of children, and inspectors reports that in one case detailed that a farmer was away
getting chemotherapy.

Regional Haze Controls 250% More Expensive Than Cost-Effective Standard: In

Montana, the EPAs proposed Regional Haze controls are nearly 250% more expensive than
what that agencys standing rules presume to be cost-effective for compliance.
Waters Of The United States Rule Would Put 99% Of Montana Under EPA
Authority. The American Farm Bureau Federation says that the EPA power grab puts 99
percent of Pennsylvania and Montana, and 100 percent of Virginia under the federal
agencys authority. Vast oceans of other states fall under the EPAs claim of domain too.
o

EPAs Water Rule Hurts Montana Farmers, Ranchers. In 2012, our 28,000+
Montana farms and ranches generated over $4.2 billion in agriculture services and
products. Under the Waters of the U.S. proposal, all of these areas would now be
subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of Obamas EPA, requiring expensive federal permits
for everything from clearing vegetation to building a fence.

Anti-Coal Regulations Harm Native American Tribe. Crow Nation Chairman Darrin Old
Coyote testified at a Senate Indian Affairs Field Hearing in April 2015:
o Despite minimal tribal outreach (and no direct contact with elected Crow Nation officials
before the rule was proposed), significant substantive policy prescriptions are likely to
cause serious setbacks to the Crow Nation, potentially over multiple generations. The
longstanding trust responsibility between the federal government and the Crow Nation
may be violated unless an exception and/or mitigation of the rule is provided to us.
o

The Crow Nation receives revenues equaling 66 percent of its annual nonfederal budget
from severance taxes and royalties paid for the mining of coal owned by the Crow Nation
at the Mine, near Hardin, Montana Because the Proposed Rule will unfairly penalize
Minnesota and other Midwest customers that currently buy and rely on production of
Crow coal for its mix of energy production the result will be a substantial loss of that
market for Crow coal. That in turn will mean drastic hits to the Crow Nations operating
revenues, which will directly cause the loss of services and employment on the Crow
Reservation.

The lack of meaningful consultation is perplexing in light of the fact that the Crow
Nation is one of only four tribes nationwide that owns merchantable coal deposits, and is
one of only three tribes (out of 566 federally recognized tribes) for whom the mining of
coal burned in electrical generating units impacted by the proposal is a hugely significant
piece of the Tribal economy.

Cookie-Cutter EPA Rule Has Unintended Consequences For Montana. The

Environmental Protection Agency's plan to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power
plants could unintentionally limit Montana's ability to use wind energy and penalize utilities
that have already improved their energy efficiency, a Montana utility regulator told a
congressional panel Tuesday. The EPA essentially ignores the details of a state's situation,
and instead applies a cookie-cutter formula, Montana Public Service Commissioner Travis
Kavulla, R-Great Falls, told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.
NORTH DAKOTA

EPAs Clean Power Plan Is A Draconian Mandate For North Dakota. EPA's
draconian mandate, specific to North Dakota, requires a dramatic and immediate shift away
from lignite coal-powered electric generating plants in favor of gas-powered plants or
renewable sources, the motion from state Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem reads. The
Clean Power Plan, in an affront to North Dakota's sovereign interests, imposes a particularly
stringent compliance requirement on the state because of its development and use of its
own lignite coal resources, the motion reads. EPA's rule requires North Dakota to reduce its
carbon dioxide (CO2) emission rate by 44.9 percent, more than all but two other states and
four times more than the emissions reduction EPA originally would have required for North
Dakota in its proposed rule, Stenehjem writes.
Meeting EPA Regional Haze Goals Unachievable Even By Shutting Down All
Industry: Although North Dakota is one of only 12 states that achieves all of EPAs air
quality standards for public health, it would not be able to achieve EPAs Regional Haze goals
for visibility even by shutting down all industry. The EPA plan would also cost the state an
additional $13 million per year.

Despite Energy Infrastructure Challenges, EPA Threatens North Dakota With

Emission Standards That Are Impossible To Comply With. Oil train derailments
and a Canadian pipeline explosion that left North Dakotas Red River Valley without power in
the midst of subzero temperatures has energy infrastructure in the headlines. But one state
official says the Environmental Protection Agency is threatening North Dakotas power
system with new emission regulations, which, he says, are impossible to comply with.

EPAs Emission Standards Would Harm Ratepayers. Mike Eggl, senior vice
president of communications for Basin Electric Power Cooperative, said the rules could
lead to disruptions to power supplies. He said one of Basins primary goals is providing
cost-effective energy to customers in the states it operates in. The EPA process is a
threat to that, Eggl said.

PENNSYLVANIA
Waters of the United States Rule Could Halt Agriculture Production. The
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, alarmed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys plans to
adjust the definition of water bodies that may be legally regulated by the agency, has
launched a campaign designed to stop the new legislation in the public comment period.
Under the current rule, the EPA only holds jurisdiction over navigable waters of the U.S. meaning bodies of water that can accommodate boats. According to the bureau, the EPA
wants to simply remove the word navigable, leaving farmers to wonder how this will affect
future legal rulings that could hinder - or entirely halt - ag productivity.
Clean Power Plan Threatens Pennsylvania Economic Competitiveness: The
Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry said the Clean Power Plan would [threaten]
Pennsylvanias biggest competitive advantage, which is low energy prices.