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EPA Region 7 to Host November 4 Public Listening Session in Lenexa, Kan., on Reducing Carbon Pollution from Existing Power Plants

Release Date: 10/31/2013
Contact Information: David Bryan, 913-551-7433 or 800-223-0425, bryan.david@epa.gov

Environmental News

NEWS MEDIA ADVISORY

(Lenexa, Kan., Oct. 31, 2013) - EPA Region 7 will host one of 11 national listening sessions from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 4, 2013, in Lenexa, Kan., to solicit input from the public about the best Clean Air Act approaches to reducing carbon pollution from existing power plants.

• WHAT: Public Listening Session - Reducing Carbon Pollution From Existing Power Plants
• TIME: Monday, November 4, 2013 (4 p.m. to 8 p.m. CST)
• LOCATION: U.S. EPA Region 7, 11201 Renner Blvd., Lenexa, Kan. 66219
  * Note: This is a secure facility requiring attendees to have valid photo ID and undergo airport-level screening. Potential weapons, including pocket knives, will not be allowed inside the facility.
• PARKING: Available in EPA guest parking lot just off Renner Boulevard. NOTE: News trucks will be provided parking in close proximity to the building with prior coordination.
• WHO: EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks, key EPA officials, and more than 200 attendees (including representatives from environmental advocacy groups, utilities, environmental engineering contractors; private citizens and elected officials).

The listening session will begin with brief introductory remarks by EPA at 4 p.m., followed by public input about reducing carbon pollution from existing power plants.

Power plants are the nation’s largest stationary source of carbon pollution, responsible for about one- third of all greenhouse gas pollution in the United States. The President’s Climate Action Plan takes steady and responsible steps to cut the harmful carbon pollution that fuels a changing climate while continuing to provide affordable, reliable energy. The feedback from a series of 11 public listening sessions held nationwide, including the one in Lenexa, will play an important role in helping EPA develop smart, cost-effective guidelines that reflect the latest and best information available. The Agency will seek additional public input during the notice and comment period once it issues a proposal, by June 2014.

The Clean Air Act gives both EPA and states a role in reducing air pollution from power plants that are already in operation. The law directs EPA to establish guidelines, which states use to design their own programs to reduce emissions. Before proposing guidelines, EPA must consider how power plants with a variety of different configurations would be able to reduce carbon pollution in a cost-effective way.