Petcoke moratorium NEEDS YOUR HELP!

While it is good news that Consolidated Energy has put their power plant plans on “hold”, unfortunately this issue is far from over. It seems that Consolidated Energy is leaving the window open to proceed with a petcoke power plant on the Holly site at some point in the future. When that is, and whether the specifications/plans for the plant will be altered, we don’t exactly know. What we do know is that we need HB 393 to pass out of Committee in order to make it to the House floor for a vote.

HB 393, introduced by Rep. Roger Barrus, will place a two-year moratorium on construction and permitting of new power plants (except those fueled by natural gas) in non-attainment areas – those areas that do not meet EPA standards for particulate matter, this includes Davis County. This bill will halt the Consolidated Energy project, if and WHEN it is revived, for at least two years, allowing the Division of Air Quality to adopt new federal standards and guidelines that could also prevent such point sources from being built here in the future.

The Utah House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee held a hearing today to consider HB 393. The Committee adjourned before deciding whether or not to pass it out of Committee. If this bill does not pass during this legislative session, there will be nothing to stop Consolidated Energy from taking their plans off the “back burner”, so to speak, and proceeding with the permitting process as it currently stands. The Division of Air Quality will have to “pick up where they left off” with respect to permitting. This is not a good option, since the DAQ has stated that they do not have any more tools with which they could deny a permit of this project.

Please ACT NOW. If you can take a few minutes today to write members of the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee encouraging them to pass this HB 393 out of Committee so it can be heard on the House floor, that would be GREAT. Here is a list of the names and e-mails of those Committee Members:

Rep. Roger E. Barrus, Chair
rogerbarrus@utah.gov

Rep. John G. Matthis, Vice Chair
jmathis@utah.gov

Rep. Melvin R. Brown
melbrown@utah.gov

Rep. Brad L. Dee
bdee@utah.gov

Rep. Jack R. Draxler
jdraxler@utah.gov

Rep. Kerry W. Gibson
kwgibson@utah.gov

Rep. James R. Gowans
jgowans@utah.gov

Rep. Neal B. Hendrickson
nhendrickson@utah.gov

Rep. Michael E. Noel
mnoel@kanab.net

Rep. Patrick Painter
ppainter@utah.gov

Rep. Phil Riesen
priesen@utah.gov

Rep. Christine F. Watkins
cwatkins@utah.gov

Rep. Ryan D. Wilcox
ryanwilcos@utah.gov

Rep. Bradley A. Winn
bwinn@utah.gov

This HB 393 needs your support, PLEASE WRITE A LETTER TODAY – time is of the essence.