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 li mits to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO x ), 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 (BAR T) requirement of the Regi onal Haze Rule. EPA proposed the extension based on supplemental information provided by Nevada Energy demonstrating that additional time was needed to de sign, procure and install new NO x controls.

 The additional time would provide a total of 4 ye ars from the effective date of the final BART determination for Nevada Energy, owner and opera tor 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 pr acticable, but no later than 5 year s from the date of the final BART determination.

 Although the Nevada State Legislature and G overnor 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 co mpliance date for thes e 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, reduc ing the beauty of our pr otected natural areas.

 Under the Clean Air Act, Congress set a long-ter m 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 Availa ble Retrofit Technology at older power plants, such as RGGS, that cause or contribute to vi sibility impairment at Class I

areas.

 RGGS is a 557 MW coal-fired pow er plant in southern Nevada, located adjacent to reservation lands of the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians.

 Based on their dates of c onstruction, Units 1, 2 and 3, which ar e each 100 MW, are subject to the BART requirement of the Regional Haze Rule. Ba sed 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 appr ove most of Nevada’s Regional Haze plan. Nevada’s Regional Haze plan addressed all Nevada facilities that are subject to BART. At thetime, 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 approva l and partial disapproval of Nevada’s plans for controlling NO x at the RGGS. At the same time, EP A finalized a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) for the disapproved portions of Neva da’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 pr oposed action from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and Nevada Energy, an d a written comment letter expressing no position on the proposed action from legal couns el representing the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians, the Sierra Club, and the Nati onal Parks Conservation Association.

 Although the Nevada State Legislature and G overnor 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 co mpliance date for thes e 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 Re id Gardner are expected to cut NO x emissions by 4,000 tons per year. We anticipate that the reduction of NO x will reduce visibility impairment caused by RGGS by an average of 48 percent at 5 Cla ss I areas within 300 km of the facility.

For more information, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/region 9/air/actions/nv.html#haze