The full U.S. Senate will vote later this year on a plan to give coal-fired power plants a two-year break from federal regulators intent on cracking down on gas emissions, Sen. Jay Rockefeller's office announced Thursday.
Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told Rockefeller a vote would happen.
"The majority leader has indicated publicly that the Senate will have a vote on my EPA bill this year, which is good news," Rockefeller said in a statement Thursday.
Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said it's good that Reid intends to bring it to the floor, but wonders if the majority leader will manage to get Democrats behind it.
"The other aspect to that is Harry Reid going to help pass Rockefeller's bill?" Raney said.