U.S. EPA FACT SHEET 

Final Action to Extend BART Compliance Date for Units 1, 2, and 3 at the Reid Gardner 

Generating Station by 18-months 

August 16, 2013 

Today’s Action 

 EPA is taking final action to extend, by 18 months, the date by which Units 1, 2, and 3 at Reid 

Gardner Generating Station (RGGS) must meet limits to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides 

(NOx), from January 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016. 

 EPA required these units to meet emission limits in a previous action to implement the Best 

Available Retrofit Technology (BART) requirement of the Regional Haze Rule. EPA proposed 

the extension based on supplemental information provided by Nevada Energy demonstrating that 

additional time was needed to design, procure and install new NOx controls.

 The additional time would provide a total of 4 years from the effective date of the final BART 

determination for Nevada Energy, owner and operator of Units 1, 2, and 3 at RGGS, to comply. 

The final timeframe is consistent with the Clean Air Act, which requires BART controls to be 

installed as expeditiously as practicable, but no later than 5 years from the date of the final 

BART determination. 

 Although the Nevada State Legislature and Governor recently approved a plan by Nevada 

Energy, called NVision, that includes early retirement of Units 1, 2, and 3 at RGGS by the end of 

2014, EPA is taking final action to extend the compliance date for these units because NVision 

still requires review and approval by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission. 

Background 

 Regional Haze is visibility impairment caused by fine particle pollution. This haze obscures the 

view of scenery and objects at a distance, reducing the beauty of our protected natural areas. 

 Under the Clean Air Act, Congress set a long-term goal of restoring natural visibility conditions 

in national parks and wilderness areas throughout the United States, known as Class 1 Areas. 

One of the strategies for achieving this goal is the use of Best Available Retrofit Technology at 

older power plants, such as RGGS, that cause or contribute to visibility impairment at Class I 

areas. 

 RGGS is a 557 MW coal-fired power plant in southern Nevada, located adjacent to reservation 

lands of the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians. 

 Based on their dates of construction, Units 1, 2 and 3, which are each 100 MW, are subject to the 

BART requirement of the Regional Haze Rule. Based on its date of construction, Unit 4, a 257 

MW unit, is not subject to BART. 

 On March 26, 2012, EPA took final action to approve most of Nevada’s Regional Haze plan. 

Nevada’s Regional Haze plan addressed all Nevada facilities that are subject to BART. At the 
time, EPA did not take action on the portion of Nevada’s plan related to controlling NOx 

emissions from RGGS. 

 On August 23, 2012, EPA finalized a partial approval and partial disapproval of Nevada’s plans 

for controlling NOx at the RGGS. At the same time, EPA finalized a Federal Implementation 

Plan (FIP) for the disapproved portions of Nevada’s plan related to RGGS. The FIP included, 

among other things, a compliance date of January 1, 2015. 

 On March 26, 2013, EPA proposed a narrow revision of the FIP to extend the BART compliance 

date by 18 months, from January 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. 

 EPA accepted comment on our proposed action for 60 days and held a public hearing at the 

Administration Building of the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians on April 29, 2013. EPA received 

written comment letters in support of our proposed action from the Nevada Division of 

Environmental Protection and Nevada Energy, and a written comment letter expressing no 

position on the proposed action from legal counsel representing the Moapa Band of Paiute 

Indians, the Sierra Club, and the National Parks Conservation Association. 

 Although the Nevada State Legislature and Governor recently approved a plan by Nevada 

Energy, called NVision, that includes early retirement of Units 1, 2, and 3 at RGGS by the end of 

2014, EPA is taking final action to extend the compliance date for these units because NVision 

still requires review and approval by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission. 

 Today’s action finalizes the compliance date extension to June 30, 2016. The final action 

includes responses to oral comments made during the public hearing. 

 The new air pollution controls at Reid Gardner are expected to cut NOx emissions by 4,000 tons 

per year. We anticipate that the reduction of NOx will reduce visibility impairment caused by 

RGGS by an average of 48 percent at 5 Class I areas within 300 km of the facility. 

For more information, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/region9/air/actions/nv.html#haze