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EPAFACTSHEET:ProposedCarbonPollutionStandardfor
NewPowerPlants
OnMarch27,2012,theEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)proposedaCarbonPollution
StandardforNewPowerPlants.Thiscommon‐sensestepundertheCleanAirActwould,forthe
firsttime,setnationallimitsontheamountofcarbonpollutionpowerplants,builtinthe
future,canemit.
EPA’sproposedstandardreflectstheongoingtrendinthepowersectortobuildcleanerplants
thattakeadvantageofAmerican‐madetechnologies. Theagency’sproposal,whichdoesnot
applytoplantscurrentlyoperatingornewpermittedplantsthatbeginconstructionoverthe
next12months,isflexibleandwouldhelpminimizecarbonpollutionthroughthedeployment
ofthesametypesofmoderntechnologiesandstepsthatpowercompaniesarealreadytaking
tobuild
thenextgenerationofpowerplants.EPA’sproposalwouldensurethatthisprogress
towardacleaner,saferandmoremodernpowersectorcontinues.
PowerplantsarethelargestindividualsourcesofcarbonpollutionintheUnitedStatesand
currentlytherearenouniformnationallimitsontheamountofcarbonpollutionthatfuture
powerplantswillbeabletoemit.ConsistentwiththeUSSupremeCourt’sdecision,in2009,
EPAdeterminedthatgreenhousegaspollutionthreatensAmericans'healthandwelfareby
leadingtolonglastingchangesinourclimatethatcanhavearangeofnegativeeffectson
humanhealthandtheenvironment.
FUTUREPOWERPLANTS
• Thenation’selectricitycomesfromdiverseandlargelydomesticenergysources,
includingfossilfuels,nuclear,hydroand,increasingly,renewableenergysources.The
proposedstandardwouldnotchangethisfact,andEPAputafocusonensuringthis
standardprovidesapathwayforwardforarangeofimportantdomesticresources,
includingcoalwithtechnologiesthatreducecarbonemissions.
• Theproposedrulewouldapplyonlytonew
fossil‐fuel‐firedelectricutilitygenerating
units(EGUs).Forpurposesofthisrule,fossil‐fuel‐firedEGUsincludefossil‐fuel‐fired
boilers,integratedgasificationcombinedcycle(IGCC)unitsandstationarycombined
cycleturbineunitsthatgenerateelectricityforsaleandarelargerthan25megawatts
(MW).
• EPA’sproposalreflects
theongoingtrendinthepowersector—ashifttowardcleaner
powerplantsthattakeadvantageofmoderntechnologiesthatwillbecomethenext
generationofpowerplants.EPA’sproposedrulewouldensurethisprogresscontinues.
• Newplantscanchoosetoburnanyfossilfueltogenerateelectricity,includingnatural
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gasaswellascoalwiththehelpoftechnologiesthatreducecarbonemissions
• Theproposalwouldnotapplyto:
o Existingunitsincludingmodificationssuchaschangesneededtomeetotherair
pollutionstandards
o Newpowerplantunitsthathavepermitsandstartconstructionwithin12
monthsofthisproposal;orunitslookingtorenewpermitsthatarepartofa
DepartmentofEnergydemonstrationproject,providedthattheseunitsstart
constructionwithin12monthsofthisproposal.Theseunitsarecalled
“transitional”units.
o Newunitslocatedinnon‐continentalareas,whichinclude
Hawaiiandthe
territories.
o Newunitsthatdonotburnfossilfuels(e.g.,burnbiomassonly).
PRACTICAL,FLEXIBLE,ACHIEVABLE
• EPA’sproposedstandardreflectstheongoingtrendinthepowersectortobuildcleaner
plants,includingnew,clean‐burning,efficientnaturalgasgeneration,whichisalready
thetechnology
ofchoicefornewandplannedpowerplants.
• Atthesametime,therulecreatesapathforwardfornewtechnologiestobedeployed
atfuturefacilitiesthatwouldallowcompaniestoburncoal,whileemittinglesscarbon
pollution.
• EPAisproposingthatnewfossil‐fuel‐firedpowerplantsmeetanoutput‐basedstandard
of1,000poundsofCO
2
permegawatt‐hour(lbCO
2
/MWhgross).
• Newnaturalgascombinedcycle(NGCC)powerplantunitsshouldbeabletomeetthe
proposedstandardwithoutadd‐oncontrols.Infact,basedonavailabledata,EPA
believesthatnearlyall(95%)oftheNGCCunitsbuiltrecently(since2005)wouldmeet
thestandard.
• Newpowerplantsthataredesignedtousecoalorpetroleumcokewouldbeableto
incorporatetechnologytoreducecarbondioxideemissionstomeetthestandard,such
ascarboncaptureandstorage(CCS).
• Somestates,includingWashington,OregonandCalifornia,currentlylimitGHG
pollution.Otherstates,including
MontanaandIllinois,currentlyrequireCCSfornew
coalgeneration.
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• Aspartofourfocusonensuringcontinueduseofadiverserangeofdomestically
producedfuelsources,theproposedstandardprovidesflexibilitiesfornewpower
plantstophaseintechnologytoreducecarbonpollution.Newpowerplantsthatuse
CCSwouldhavetheoptiontousea30‐yearaverageofCO
2
emissionstomeetthe
proposedstandard,ratherthanmeetingtheannualstandardeachyear.
o PlantsthatinstallandoperateCCSrightawaywouldhavetheflexibilitytoemit
moreCO
2
intheearlyyearsastheylearnhowtobestoptimizethecontrols.
o Acompanycouldbuildacoal‐firedplantandaddCCSlater.Forexample,anew
powerplantcouldemitmoreCO
2
forthefirst10yearsandthenemitlessforthe
next20years,aslongastheaverageofthoseemissionsmetthestandard.
o CCSisexpectedtobecomemorewidelyavailable,whichshouldleadtolower
costsandimprovedperformanceovertime.
• EPA,DOE,andindustryprojectionsindicatethat,duetotheeconomicsofcoaland
naturalgasamongotherfactors,newpowerplantsthatarebuiltinoverthenext
decadeormorewouldbeexpectedtomeetthisproposedstandardevenintheabsence
oftherule.
• Becausethisstandardisinlinewithcurrentindustryinvestmentpatterns,thisproposed
standardisnotexpectedtohavenotablecostsandisnotprojectedtoimpactelectricity
pricesorreliability.
POWERPLANTCARBONPOLLUTIONIMPACTSPUBLICHEALTHANDTHEENVIRONMENT
• Thisstandardensuresthatpowercompaniesinvestinginlong‐livednewfossilfuelfired
powerplantswillusecleantechnologiesthatlimitharmfulcarbonpollution.
• Carbonpollutionstaysintheatmosphereandcontributestoclimatechange,whichisa
threattopublichealthandtheenvironmentforcurrentandfuturegenerations.
• EPAistakingcommon‐sensestepstolimittheseemissions,by
addressingemissions
fromfossil‐firedpowerplants,whicharethelargestnewsourcesofcarbonpollution.
• UncheckedgreenhousegaspollutionthreatensAmericans'healthandwelfareby
leadingtolong‐lastingchangesinourclimate,withimpactsthatcouldinclude:
o Increasedgroundlevelozonepollution,otherwiseknownas
smog.Exposureto
groundlevelozoneislinkedtoasthmaandprematuredeath.
o Longer,moreintenseandmorefrequentheatwaves.
o Moreintenseprecipitationeventsandstormsurges.
o LessprecipitationandmoreprolongeddroughtintheWestandSouthwest.
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o MorefiresandinsectpestoutbreaksinAmericanforests,especiallyintheWest.
• Thehealthrisksfromclimatechangeareespeciallyseriousforchildren,theelderly,and
thosewithheartandrespiratoryproblems.
OPEN,TRANSPARENTPROCESS
• Inearly2011,EPAheldseverallisteningsessionstogainimportantinformationand
feedbackfromkeystakeholdersandthepublicbeforeinitiatingtherulemakingprocess
tosetCarbonPollutionStandardfornewpowerplants.Eachlisteningsessionincludeda
roundtablediscussionandpubliccomments.EPAalsosolicitedwrittencomments.EPA
consideredthesecommentswhendraftingthisproposal.
• TheEPAwillacceptcommentonthisproposedrulefor60daysfollowingpublicationin
theFederalRegister.
• EPAwillholdpublichearingsonthisproposal.Thedates,times,andlocationsofthe
publichearingswillbeavailablesoon.TheywillbepublishedintheFederalRegisterand
alsolistedonwww.epa.gov/carbonpollutionstandard
BACKGROUND
• OnApril2,2007,inalandmarkdecisioninMassachusettsv.EPA,theSupremeCourt
determinedthatgreenhousegases,includingcarbondioxide,areairpollutantsunder
theCleanAirActandEPAmustdetermineiftheythreatenpublichealthandwelfare.
• OnDecember15,2009,theEPAAdministratorfoundthatthecurrentandprojected
concentrationsofgreenhousegasesendangerthepublichealthandwelfareofcurrent
andfuturegenerations.
• OnDecember23,2010,EPAannouncedaproposedsettlementagreementtoissuerules
thatwouldaddressGHGpollutionfromcertainfossilfuel‐firedEGUs.Thisagreement
addressed,inpart,EPA’sSeptember2007remandofitsFebruary2006finaldecisionnot
tosetstandardsforboilers.
HOWTOCOMMENT
• EPAwillacceptcommentontheproposalfor60daysafterpublicationintheFederal
Register.CommentsontheproposedstandardshouldbeidentifiedbyDocketIDNo.EPA‐
HQ‐OAR‐2011‐0660.Allcommentsmaybesubmittedbyoneof
thefollowingmethods:
• www.regulations.gov:Followtheon‐lineinstructionsforsubmittingcomments.
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• E‐mail:Commentsmaybesentbyelectronicmail(e‐mail)toa‐and‐r‐
Docket@epa.gov.
• Fax:Faxyourcommentsto:202‐566‐1741.
• Mail:Sendyourcommentsto:AirandRadiationDocketandInformationCenter,
EnvironmentalProtectionAgency,MailCode:2822T,1200PennsylvaniaAve.,
NW,
Washington,DC,20460.
• HandDeliveryorCourier:Deliveryourcommentsto:EPADocketCenter,Room
3334,1301ConstitutionAve.,NW,Washington,DC,20460.Suchdeliveriesareonly
acceptedduringtheDocket’snormalhoursofoperation,andspecialarrangements
shouldbemadefordeliveriesofboxedinformation.
• EPAwill
holdpublichearingsonthisproposal.Thedates,times,andlocationsofthepublic
hearingswillbeavailablesoon.TheywillbepublishedintheFederalRegisterandalso
listedonwww.epa.gov/carbonpollutionstandard
FORMOREINFORMATION
• Theproposedrulecalled“StandardsofPerformanceforGreenhouseGasEmissionsfor
NewStationarySources:ElectricUtilityGeneratingUnits”ispostedat:
www.epa.gov/carbonpollutionstandard.
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