GHG Reduction Technologies Monitor Vol. 9 No. 1
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GHG Reduction Technologies Monitor
Article 5 of 8
March 17, 2014

NSPS RULE PUBLISHED IN FEDERAL REGISTER AFTER THREE-MONTH DELAY

By ExchangeMonitor

Karen Frantz
GHG Monitor
1/10/14

After more than a three-month delay, the Environmental Protection Agency’s New Source Performance Standards rule limiting carbon dioxide emissions from new fossil fuel-fired electricity generating units was published by the Federal Register Jan. 8, kicking off the 60-day public commenting period that will run through March 10. A public hearing will also be held on the rule Jan. 28 at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. There are no surprises in the published rule, which does not contain any substantial changes from the proposed version unveiled in September, and it will set separate CO2 emissions standards for coal and gas units and provides incentives for plant developers to install carbon capture and storage technology.

Depending on whether plant operators decide to measure CO2 emissions over a 12- or 84-month operating period, individual coal units would have to cap emissions at between 1,000 and 1,100 lbs CO2/MWh (compared to the average uncontrolled coal unit, which emits upwards of 1,800 lbs CO2/MWh). Gas-fired turbines, depending on their size, must also meet a CO2 emissions limit of between 1,000 and 1,100 lbs MWh over a 12-month period. The rule also identifies natural gas combined cycle technology as the “best system of emission reduction” for new gas units and the “partial” capture and storage of roughly 30 to 50 percent of a plant’s emissions as the the BSER technology for coal plants.

In a separate action Jan. 8, the EPA also officially withdrew the initial NSPS proposal that was released in April 2012 and which set a technology-neutral emissions performance standard of 1,000 lbs CO2/MWh. The EPA updated the rule in September 2013 after reviewing the more than 2.5 million comments it received on the 2012 version and after considering changes in the electricity sector.

Stakeholders Quick to Respond

Supporters and critics were swift to speak out about the rule. Senior Counsel and Legal Director of the Clean Air Task Force, Ann Weeks, told GHG Monitor the rule is a “good step forward.” “It recognizes that carbon capture and sequestration is actually being developed now and the control option that’s available and ready for regulatory reliance, which the previous version had shied away from [doing]," she said. "At this point, we have projects in development that are electric power plant projects that rely on the technology, and so it’s clear that that’s where the Agency needs to go. We have to get carbon dioxide numbers significantly down from where they are and I don’t see how we do that without technologies like this.” She also said she did not think the 60-day comment period would be a problem “because people have had an opportunity to look at the rule since September.”

David Doniger, Policy Director and Senior Attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, also lauded the rule in a blog post. “Power plants are the nation’s biggest source of the carbon pollution that is dangerously changing our climate—responsible for more than two billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions each year. We have standards for bad pollutants like mercury and those that cause soot and smog, but there are still no federal limits on the carbon pollution that power plants belch out each year. The proposed standards, unchanged from those announced on September, will put the first federal limits on CO2 pollution from new power plants.”

But the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity said it had serious concerns about the NSPS and in particular the rule’s essential mandate of carbon capture and storage technology for coal plants. “EPA’s New Source Performance Standards are yet another example of bad energy policy from the Obama White House,” said Laura Sheehan, Senior Vice President of Communications for ACCCE, in a statement. “The rule’s unachievable requirements will take reliable, affordable coal-fueled electricity out of our future energy equation, and will force America to forego leadership on carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, an industry that promises an estimated $1 trillion in economic benefits, while countries like China gladly assume supremacy.” She added, “By requiring CCS, EPA is placing a de facto ban on the construction of new coal-fueled power plants, handing over leadership of the development of CCS, and an estimated $1 trillion in economic benefits, to countries like China. Even EPA’s own Science Advisory Board has convened a dedicated working group to explore the viability of CCS and to determine whether the agency properly reviewed the issue before releasing the rule.”

And the National Mining Association released a statement calling the rule a “big step backwards for supplying America affordable and reliable power from the cleanest coal-based power systems commercially available,” and said the rule would effectively ban coal from the country’s energy portfolio. “Forcing America to abandon its largest and most reliable energy source is a reckless gamble with the nation’s economy,” said NMA President and CEO Hal Quinn.
 

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