49-459. State plan; carbon emissions from power plants

A. The director, in consultation with the corporation commission, the governing bodies of affected public power entities as defined in section 30-801, electric utilities regulated by the corporation commission and independently owned electric generating units shall develop, adopt and enforce a state plan to regulate the emissions of carbon dioxide from existing electric generation units in compliance with rules adopted by the administrator under section 111(d) of the clean air act.

B. On or before the last day of each calendar quarter after July 3, 2015 and until submission of a complete state plan pursuant to subsection F of this section, the director shall transmit a report on actions as prescribed in subsection A of this section to the joint legislative review committee on state plans relating to carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants.

C. The director may participate in one or more full or partial multijurisdictional plans or agreements, including plans or agreements with Indian tribes, for the purposes of complying with this section.

D. Not less than ninety days before submitting a complete state plan adopted pursuant to subsection A of this section to the administrator, the director shall transmit the proposed state plan to the joint legislative review committee on state plans relating to carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants for review pursuant to section 41-1291.01. The committee may review the proposed state plan concurrently with any public review required for the plan.

E. The director may not transmit a state plan to the joint legislative review committee on state plans relating to carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants until the administrator adopts rules under section 111(d) of the clean air act.

F. After review and comment by the joint legislative review committee or if the committee fails to act in a timely manner pursuant to section 41-1291.01, the director may submit a state plan to the administrator for approval.

G. The director may adopt rules to implement subsection A of this section. Any rulemaking conducted pursuant to this section is exempt from the requirement under sections 41-1024 and 41-1052 to submit the rule to the governor's regulatory review council for approval. Before filing a final rule with the secretary of state, the director shall provide the joint legislative review committee on state plans relating to carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants notice of any rules proposed pursuant to this section at the same time that a notice of proposed rulemaking is submitted to the secretary of state for publication in the administrative register.

H. Submission of a state plan does not impair the ability of any affected state entity to challenge the lawfulness of the federal regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from existing electric generating units and does not constitute a waiver of any claims.