North Dakota opposed to EPA power plant policy

BISMARCK, N.D., Feb. 28 (UPI) -- North Dakota's policies on emissions from existing power plants show how a "one-size-fits-all" model is the wrong approach, Gov. Jack Dalrymple said.

Dalrymple met in Bismarck with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy to review regulations for power plants and said the EPA should take a "common sense" approach on emissions standards.

"North Dakota is one of only a handful of states that meet the EPA's air-quality standards and I hope this visit will help her better understand that a one-size-fits-all approach for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants is not the answer," the governor said in a statement Thursday.

Last year, the EPA proposed new rules that would cap emissions from existing coal-fired power plants and set new limits for future facilities.

U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., who invited McCarthy to the state, said in a statement earlier this week she's been "forceful" in her opposition to the EPA's proposed regulations, saying they would have a negative impact on the state's economy. She said many of the EPA's regulations on coal would be "unachievable."

There was no EPA statement apart from a Wednesday announcement that McCarthy's visit to North Dakota would focus on protection of "people's health and the environment."