"EPA Balked At TVA’s Fossil Fuel Plant, Then Stepped Aside"

"The agency decided not to elevate a dispute over the electric utility’s review to the White House Council on Environmental Quality."

"Top EPA officials supported a rebuke of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s environmental review of a gas-fueled power plant this spring, but they backed off when the electric utility ignored their criticism.

A meeting between EPA staffers and TVA aides in March didn’t resolve the dispute — and a second meeting to discuss the plan to bring new fossil fuel energy online never happened, according to records obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.

By early April, EPA let the matter drop after TVA decided to go ahead with the natural gas project west of Knoxville, Tennessee. EPA never brought the clash to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, which is responsible for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act."

Carlos Anchondo and Kevin Bogardus report for E&E News June 5, 2024.

Source: E&E News, 06/07/2024