EPA FACT SHEET: Proposed Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants pot

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
EPAFACTSHEET:ProposedCarbonPollutionStandardfor
NewPowerPlants

OnMarch27,2012,theEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)proposedaCarbonPollution
StandardforNewPowerPlants.Thiscommon‐sensestepundertheCleanAirActwould,forthe
firsttime,setnationallimitsontheamountofcarbonpollutionpowerplants,builtinthe
future,canemit.

EPA’sproposedstandardreflectstheongoingtrendinthepowersectortobuildcleanerplants
thattakeadvantageofAmerican‐madetechnologies. Theagency’sproposal,whichdoesnot
applytoplantscurrentlyoperatingornewpermittedplantsthatbeginconstructionoverthe
next12months,isflexibleandwouldhelpminimizecarbonpollutionthroughthedeployment
ofthesametypesofmoderntechnologiesandstepsthatpowercompaniesarealreadytaking
tobuild
thenextgenerationofpowerplants.EPA’sproposalwouldensurethatthisprogress
towardacleaner,saferandmoremodernpowersectorcontinues.


PowerplantsarethelargestindividualsourcesofcarbonpollutionintheUnitedStatesand
currentlytherearenouniformnationallimitsontheamountofcarbonpollutionthatfuture
powerplantswillbeabletoemit.ConsistentwiththeUSSupremeCourt’sdecision,in2009,
EPAdeterminedthatgreenhousegaspollutionthreatensAmericans'healthandwelfareby
leadingtolonglastingchangesinourclimatethatcanhavearangeofnegativeeffectson
humanhealthandtheenvironment.


FUTUREPOWERPLANTS

• Thenation’selectricitycomesfromdiverseandlargelydomesticenergysources,
includingfossilfuels,nuclear,hydroand,increasingly,renewableenergysources.The
proposedstandardwouldnotchangethisfact,andEPAputafocusonensuringthis
standardprovidesapathwayforwardforarangeofimportantdomesticresources,
includingcoalwithtechnologiesthatreducecarbonemissions.

• Theproposedrulewouldapplyonlytonew
fossil‐fuel‐firedelectricutilitygenerating
units(EGUs).Forpurposesofthisrule,fossil‐fuel‐firedEGUsincludefossil‐fuel‐fired
boilers,integratedgasificationcombinedcycle(IGCC)unitsandstationarycombined
cycleturbineunitsthatgenerateelectricityforsaleandarelargerthan25megawatts
(MW).

• EPA’sproposalreflects
theongoingtrendinthepowersector—ashifttowardcleaner
powerplantsthattakeadvantageofmoderntechnologiesthatwillbecomethenext
generationofpowerplants.EPA’sproposedrulewouldensurethisprogresscontinues.

• Newplantscanchoosetoburnanyfossilfueltogenerateelectricity,includingnatural





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gasaswellascoalwiththehelpoftechnologiesthatreducecarbonemissions 

• Theproposalwouldnotapplyto:


o Existingunitsincludingmodificationssuchaschangesneededtomeetotherair
pollutionstandards

o Newpowerplantunitsthathavepermitsandstartconstructionwithin12
monthsofthisproposal;orunitslookingtorenewpermitsthatarepartofa
DepartmentofEnergydemonstrationproject,providedthattheseunitsstart
constructionwithin12monthsofthisproposal.Theseunitsarecalled
“transitional”units.

o Newunitslocatedinnon‐continentalareas,whichinclude
Hawaiiandthe
territories.

o Newunitsthatdonotburnfossilfuels(e.g.,burnbiomassonly).

PRACTICAL,FLEXIBLE,ACHIEVABLE

• EPA’sproposedstandardreflectstheongoingtrendinthepowersectortobuildcleaner
plants,includingnew,clean‐burning,efficientnaturalgasgeneration,whichisalready
thetechnology
ofchoicefornewandplannedpowerplants.

• Atthesametime,therulecreatesapathforwardfornewtechnologiestobedeployed
atfuturefacilitiesthatwouldallowcompaniestoburncoal,whileemittinglesscarbon
pollution.

• EPAisproposingthatnewfossil‐fuel‐firedpowerplantsmeetanoutput‐basedstandard
of1,000poundsofCO
2

permegawatt‐hour(lbCO
2
/MWhgross).

• Newnaturalgascombinedcycle(NGCC)powerplantunitsshouldbeabletomeetthe
proposedstandardwithoutadd‐oncontrols.Infact,basedonavailabledata,EPA
believesthatnearlyall(95%)oftheNGCCunitsbuiltrecently(since2005)wouldmeet
thestandard.


• Newpowerplantsthataredesignedtousecoalorpetroleumcokewouldbeableto
incorporatetechnologytoreducecarbondioxideemissionstomeetthestandard,such
ascarboncaptureandstorage(CCS).

• Somestates,includingWashington,OregonandCalifornia,currentlylimitGHG
pollution.Otherstates,including
MontanaandIllinois,currentlyrequireCCSfornew
coalgeneration.




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
• Aspartofourfocusonensuringcontinueduseofadiverserangeofdomestically
producedfuelsources,theproposedstandardprovidesflexibilitiesfornewpower
plantstophaseintechnologytoreducecarbonpollution.Newpowerplantsthatuse
CCSwouldhavetheoptiontousea30‐yearaverageofCO
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emissionstomeetthe

proposedstandard,ratherthanmeetingtheannualstandardeachyear.

o PlantsthatinstallandoperateCCSrightawaywouldhavetheflexibilitytoemit
moreCO
2
intheearlyyearsastheylearnhowtobestoptimizethecontrols.
o Acompanycouldbuildacoal‐firedplantandaddCCSlater.Forexample,anew
powerplantcouldemitmoreCO
2
forthefirst10yearsandthenemitlessforthe
next20years,aslongastheaverageofthoseemissionsmetthestandard.
o CCSisexpectedtobecomemorewidelyavailable,whichshouldleadtolower
costsandimprovedperformanceovertime.

• EPA,DOE,andindustryprojectionsindicatethat,duetotheeconomicsofcoaland
naturalgasamongotherfactors,newpowerplantsthatarebuiltinoverthenext
decadeormorewouldbeexpectedtomeetthisproposedstandardevenintheabsence
oftherule.

• Becausethisstandardisinlinewithcurrentindustryinvestmentpatterns,thisproposed
standardisnotexpectedtohavenotablecostsandisnotprojectedtoimpactelectricity
pricesorreliability.

POWERPLANTCARBONPOLLUTIONIMPACTSPUBLICHEALTHANDTHEENVIRONMENT

• Thisstandardensuresthatpowercompaniesinvestinginlong‐livednewfossilfuelfired
powerplantswillusecleantechnologiesthatlimitharmfulcarbonpollution.

• Carbonpollutionstaysintheatmosphereandcontributestoclimatechange,whichisa
threattopublichealthandtheenvironmentforcurrentandfuturegenerations.


• EPAistakingcommon‐sensestepstolimittheseemissions,by
addressingemissions
fromfossil‐firedpowerplants,whicharethelargestnewsourcesofcarbonpollution.

• UncheckedgreenhousegaspollutionthreatensAmericans'healthandwelfareby
leadingtolong‐lastingchangesinourclimate,withimpactsthatcouldinclude:

o Increasedgroundlevelozonepollution,otherwiseknownas
smog.Exposureto
groundlevelozoneislinkedtoasthmaandprematuredeath.
o Longer,moreintenseandmorefrequentheatwaves.
o Moreintenseprecipitationeventsandstormsurges.
o LessprecipitationandmoreprolongeddroughtintheWestandSouthwest.




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o MorefiresandinsectpestoutbreaksinAmericanforests,especiallyintheWest.

• Thehealthrisksfromclimatechangeareespeciallyseriousforchildren,theelderly,and
thosewithheartandrespiratoryproblems.


OPEN,TRANSPARENTPROCESS

• Inearly2011,EPAheldseverallisteningsessionstogainimportantinformationand
feedbackfromkeystakeholdersandthepublicbeforeinitiatingtherulemakingprocess
tosetCarbonPollutionStandardfornewpowerplants.Eachlisteningsessionincludeda

roundtablediscussionandpubliccomments.EPAalsosolicitedwrittencomments.EPA
consideredthesecommentswhendraftingthisproposal.

• TheEPAwillacceptcommentonthisproposedrulefor60daysfollowingpublicationin
theFederalRegister.

• EPAwillholdpublichearingsonthisproposal.Thedates,times,andlocationsofthe
publichearingswillbeavailablesoon.TheywillbepublishedintheFederalRegisterand
alsolistedonwww.epa.gov/carbonpollutionstandard

BACKGROUND

• OnApril2,2007,inalandmarkdecisioninMassachusettsv.EPA,theSupremeCourt
determinedthatgreenhousegases,includingcarbondioxide,areairpollutantsunder
theCleanAirActandEPAmustdetermineiftheythreatenpublichealthandwelfare.

• OnDecember15,2009,theEPAAdministratorfoundthatthecurrentandprojected
concentrationsofgreenhousegasesendangerthepublichealthandwelfareofcurrent
andfuturegenerations.

• OnDecember23,2010,EPAannouncedaproposedsettlementagreementtoissuerules
thatwouldaddressGHGpollutionfromcertainfossilfuel‐firedEGUs.Thisagreement
addressed,inpart,EPA’sSeptember2007remandofitsFebruary2006finaldecisionnot
tosetstandardsforboilers.

HOWTOCOMMENT

• EPAwillacceptcommentontheproposalfor60daysafterpublicationintheFederal
Register.CommentsontheproposedstandardshouldbeidentifiedbyDocketIDNo.EPA‐
HQ‐OAR‐2011‐0660.Allcommentsmaybesubmittedbyoneof

thefollowingmethods:
• www.regulations.gov:Followtheon‐lineinstructionsforsubmittingcomments.




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• E‐mail:Commentsmaybesentbyelectronicmail(e‐mail)toa‐and‐r‐

• Fax:Faxyourcommentsto:202‐566‐1741.
• Mail:Sendyourcommentsto:AirandRadiationDocketandInformationCenter,
EnvironmentalProtectionAgency,MailCode:2822T,1200PennsylvaniaAve.,
NW,
Washington,DC,20460.
• HandDeliveryorCourier:Deliveryourcommentsto:EPADocketCenter,Room
3334,1301ConstitutionAve.,NW,Washington,DC,20460.Suchdeliveriesareonly
acceptedduringtheDocket’snormalhoursofoperation,andspecialarrangements
shouldbemadefordeliveriesofboxedinformation.
• EPAwill
holdpublichearingsonthisproposal.Thedates,times,andlocationsofthepublic
hearingswillbeavailablesoon.TheywillbepublishedintheFederalRegisterandalso
listedonwww.epa.gov/carbonpollutionstandard

FORMOREINFORMATION

• Theproposedrulecalled“StandardsofPerformanceforGreenhouseGasEmissionsfor
NewStationarySources:ElectricUtilityGeneratingUnits”ispostedat:
www.epa.gov/carbonpollutionstandard.