Government documents suggest the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may have delayed announcing a new rule, in order to aid senate Democrats due for election. The regulations, set to limit greenhouse gases are designed to reduce pollution.
Gina McCarthy, the EPA administrator, told the Congress the ruling was submitted to the Federal register immediately upon its release.
Based on government records, the rule was not submitted to the Register until 25 November 2013, and was published on 8 January 2014. Because of this delay, Republicans cannot schedule a vote to repeal the law until January 2015.
Most EPA rulings take between one and five days after release to reach the Register. In this case, the agency took 66 days to submit the regulation. This delay seemed unusual, even to government officials.
"[L]ots of folks are confused as to why the rule hasn't yet published in the [Federal Register]. Are there particular reasons for this?" Nathan Frey, OMG policy analyst asked EPA officials, in an e-mail.
Republican Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and his staff are investigating the delay, to see if it may have been politically motivated. During the 2012 elections, members of the GOP accused the agency of delaying the publication of controversial rulings on several occasions.
"It's disappointing that EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy continues to try to justify her agency's use of secret science. Relying on undisclosed data is not good science and not good policy. Ms. McCarthy admitted that the EPA has never even seen much of the underlying data it uses to justify new multi-million dollar air regulations," Lamar Smith, Republican congressman from Texas said.
In June, the agency is expected to release a second set of regulations, aimed at reducing pollution created by the nation's 6,600 power plants. The new rules could greatly affect coal-fired plants, based on industry sources.
Democrats in Gulf Coast oil states and Appalachia have experienced some negative feedback from their constituents over the rulings.
"These standards will reduce the Nation's carbon pollution and dependence on oil, and also lead to greater innovation, economic growth, and cost savings for American families. The United States now has the opportunity to address carbon pollution from the power sector, which produces nearly 40 percent of such pollution," President Obama wrote about the new regulations.
Due to the complicated nature of EPA regulations and Senate rules, the ruling will not have to be finalized until after the 2014 elections. If the regulation was sent to the Register in the days after its release, the rule would have been finalized, and a vote taken, just weeks before the November election.
