WASHINGTON (WV News) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently extended the public comment period for its newly proposed power plant regulations.

The extension is only for 15 days — the comment period is now set to end Aug. 8 instead of July 24 — far less time than stakeholders had requested, according to U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

“I’m concerned that the EPA could only give us another 15 days,” she said Thursday during her weekly press briefing. “We asked for measurably more time, and so did a lot of stakeholders — both on the environmental side and also on the power side,” she said.

The regulations would cause “a lot of damages” if they go into effect, Capito said.

“I think we should have a lot of time to consider it,” she said. “More time.”

Capito recently partnered with Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., on the Protect Our Power Plants Act, which the pair has introduced in the Senate and House, respectively.

“Carol and I are saying, ‘Stop with the overreach,’” Capito said. “This bill would help energy-producing communities, would help West Virginia workers, helps keep our (electrical) grid more robustly provided, but also keeps our power rates within reason.”

The bill is intended to push back on the “illegalities of the EPA’s latest proposal,” according to a joint press release issued Monday.

“The EPA has overstepped their role and is waging war on power plants across the United States,” Miller said in the statement. “The Biden administration and Washington Democrats continue to shut down domestic energy production in the name of their Green New Deal agenda while the United States should be focused on maintaining its energy dominance.”

The EPA’s proposal — titled “New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; and Repeal of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule” — was released at the end of May.

The regulations would require coal- and natural-gas-fired electrical generation facilities to capture or dramatically reduce carbon emissions in the years ahead and would impact gas-fired combustion turbines, existing coal-, oil- and gas-fired steam generating units and certain existing gas-fired combustion turbines.

The day the rules were announced, Capito said they would result in the closure of West Virginia’s remaining coal power plants.

“The president’s EPA announced earlier today new regulations that will cause essentially all of our coal-fired power plants — which generate 90% of our electricity in our state — to close by 2032,” she said.

Those wishing to submit comments to the EPA regarding its proposal, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0072, may do so by any of the following methods:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: regulations.gov.

Email: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov. Include Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0072 in the subject line of the message.

Fax: (202) 566-9744. Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0072.

Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0072, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460.

Hand/Courier Delivery: EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Docket Center’s hours of operation are 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Monday –Friday (except Federal holidays).