LANSING – Michigan and 26 other states will need to see how power plant emissions are allocated before they will know how new federal rules signed Thursday would affect the state, Department of Environmental Quality Air Quality Division Chief Vinson Hellwig told Gongwer News Service.
The new rules, which also still have to go through a public comment period before taking effect, would control pollution permit levels where emissions from coal-fired power plants cross state lines.
“We just want to see what the allocations are and how it will affect the coal fired plants in Michigan,” Hellwig said. “We knew this was coming.”
The key objection DEQ has to the proposal at this point is it would require the state to wait for the full federal rules to be drafted before the state could implement its own rules.
“We prefer to have a state rule first and let us do the management of the program,” he said.
But he also said the rule as adopted Thursday would likely not have much affect on the state until 2014 when the second phase of the federal cap and trade program is implemented.
“It may require one of two things: additional controls or they may have to buy credits,” he said of the limits under that second phase.
But, again, power plant owners are already preparing for the rule, he said. For instance, he said, the plant in Monroe is having $2 billion in emissions controls added now in anticipation of the new limits.
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