# Overview Presentation: Clean Air Act Section 111

Workshop for Communities with Environmental
Justice Concerns Holly Wilson
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards October 30, 2014

# Purpose

• To engage with stakeholders as EPA addresses President Obama’s directive to reduce carbon pollution from power plants under his Climate Action Plan

• To build a common understanding about the basics of the Clean Air Act (CAA) section 111

– How it has worked

– How it gives flexibility in the design of a program to reduce carbon pollution from existing power plants

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## In December 2009, EPA’s Administrator released an endangerment finding that the current and projected concentrations of six key greenhouse gases in the atmosphere threaten the public health and the welfare of current and future generations.

 carbon dioxide (CO2 )  methane (CH4),  nitrous oxide (N2O),  hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)  perfluorocarbons (PFCs)  sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)

# Carbon Pollution and Health

• Unchecked carbon pollution leads to long

- lasting changes in our climate

, such as:

– Rising global temperatures

– Rising sea level

– Changes in weather and precipitation patterns

– Changes in ecosystems, habitats and species diversity

• These changes threaten America’s health and welfare for current and future generations

• Public health risks include:

– More heat waves and drought

– Worsening smog (also called ground

- level ozone pollution)

– Increasing the intensity of extreme events, like hurricanes, extreme precipitation and flooding

– Increasing the range of ticks and mosquitoes, which can spread disease such as Lyme disease and West Nile virus

• Our most vulnerable citizens, including children, older adults, people with heart or lung disease and people living in poverty may be most at risk from the health impacts of climate change 45

# The President’s Climate Action Plan

• Calls on the federal government to work with states, cities, industries, consumers and the international community to address one of the greatest challenges of our time

• Reinforces the federal commitment to:

– Cut harmful pollution

– Protect our country from the impacts of climate change

– Lead an international effort to address a changing climate

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# EPA Action Under The President’s Climate Action Plan

• Reducing carbon pollution from power plants

• Building a 21 st 

### century transportation sector

• Cutting energy waste in homes, businesses and factories

• R educing methane and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)

• Preparing the U.S. for the impacts of climate change

• Leading international efforts to address global climate change

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# Reducing Carbon Pollution From Power Plants

President’s Directive to EPA:

• Set flexible carbon pollution standards, regulations or guidelines, as appropriate, for power plants under section 111 of the Clean Air Act

• Focus on these elements when developing the standards

– Stakeholder engagement on program design

 States
 Leaders in the power sector
 Labor leaders
 Non

- governmental organizations
 Tribal officials
 Members of the public

– Flexibilities in the program design

 Market

- based instruments, performance standards, others

– Costs

 Tailor regulations and guidelines to reduce costs

– Continued importance of relying on a range of energy sources

– Other regulations that affect the power sector 8

# President’s Directive

EPA’s task:



# • Develop carbon pollution standards, regulations or guidelines, as appropriate, for:

1. New power plants

2. Modified and reconstructed power plants

3. Existing power plants

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# EPA’s Task

1. Using the Clean Air Act authority, issue carbon pollution standards for new power plants

• On January 8, 2013, EPA issued a new proposal for carbon pollution from new power plants. This action proposes:

– A separate standard of performance for fossil fuel

- fired electric utility steam generating units (EGUs) and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) units that burn coal, petroleum coke and other fossil fuels that is based on partial implementation of carbon capture and storage as the best system of emission reduction

– Standards for natural gas

- fired stationary combustion turbines based on modern, efficient natural gas combined cycle technology as the best system of emission reduction

– This action also includes related proposals concerning permitting fees under CAA title V, the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, and the definition of the pollutant covered under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration program

– A public hearing for the rulemaking was held on February 6, 2014

– The comment period for this rulemaking ended on May 9, 2014; EPA received over 2 million comments

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## 2. Using the Clean Air Act authority, issue carbon pollution standards for modified and reconstructed power plants

– Will follow the agency’s open and transparent regulatory process
 Proposal: June 2014
 Final: June 2015

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# EPA’s Task

## 3. Using the Clean Air Act authority, issue carbon pollution guidelines for existing power plants

– Issue federal guidelines for the states  Work in partnership with states  States will develop plans that set standards for existing

sources  States use EPA guidelines as a reference



### – Federal guidelines should build on states’ leadership and experience with programs that reduce GHGs

– Will follow the agency’s open and transparent regulatory process to develop guidelines and review state plans  Proposed guidelines: June 2014  Final guidelines: June 2015  State plans due: June 2016 12 

# EPA’s Task

# Clean Air Act Section 111

• Authorized in 1970

• Establishes a mechanism for controlling air pollution from stationary sources

– Applies to sources for which the Administrator, in her judgment, finds “causes, or contributes significantly to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare”

– Can apply to new, existing, modified and reconstructed sources



### • Technology

- based regulations

• More than 70 stationary source categories and subcategories are currently regulated under section 111

– A full list of sources regulated under section 111 can be found in

40 CFR Part 60

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# Clean Air Act Section 111

• Lays out different approaches for new and existing

sources

– New sources under section 111(b)  Federal standards for new, modified and reconstructed

sources



## – Existing sources under section 111(d)  State programs for existing sources that are equivalent to federal guidelines

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# Clean Air Act Section 111

Section 111(b) for New Sources

• EPA sets a standard of performance for new stationary

sources

• Standard reflects the degree of emission limitation achievable through the application of the best system of emission reduction (BSER) that the Administrator determines has been adequately demonstrated

• EPA may distinguish among classes, types and sizes of

sources

• Each new source must meet the standard

• EPA can delegate implementation and enforcement of the standards of performance to the states

• Standards are incorporated in state air permits

• Standards are to be reviewed at least every 8 years and revised, if appropriate 15 Determining “BSER” takes into account:

- The costs of achieving
emission reductions

- Non

- air quality health
and environmental impacts

- Energy requirements

### Section 111(b) for Modified and Reconstructed Sources

• EPA must also set a standard to address modified and reconstructed sources

• Follows same process as setting standards for new sources

• Each modified or reconstructed source must meet the standard

• Standards are incorporated in state air permits

• Standards are to be reviewed at least every 8 years and revised, if appropriate

16 Modification

A physical or operational change that increases the source’s maximum achievable hourly rate of emissions

Reconstruction

When a single project replaces components and exceeds 50 percent of the fixed capital cost that would be required to construct a comparable entirely new facility 

# Clean Air Act Section 111

# Clean Air Act Section 111

Section 111(d) for Existing Sources

• Requires a different approach for achieving emission reductions than the approach used for new sources

• Provides that EPA establish

– A procedure for states to issue performance standards for existing sources in the source category and

– Guidance about the appropriate level of the standard



### • EPA has established section 111 (d) regulations for existing sources for 5 source categories

17 Section 111(d) regulations

- Sulfuric acid plants (acid mist)

- Phosphate fertilizer plants (fluorides)

- Primary aluminum plants (fluorides)

- Kraft pulp plants (total reduced sulfur)

- Municipal solid
waste landfills (landfill gases)

### Section 111(d) is broad by design

• Congress anticipated there may be air pollution problems that EPA would need to address beyond those covered by national ambient air quality standards (such as ozone and fine particle pollution) or air
toxics standards

• Also recognized that existing sources do not have as much flexibility as new ones to build emission controls into their design

• Therefore, the statutory language in section 111(d) is broad

• Section 111 (d) provides greater flexibility to EPA and states to design a program in consultation with a diverse range of stakeholders

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# Clean Air Act Section 111

# Clean Air Act Section 111

How Section 111(d) Has Worked

• EPA previously has set “emission guidelines” for 5 source categories

– Has not prescribed technology that must be used to comply

• Once EPA set the guidelines, states developed section 111(d) plans establishing standards of performance for the covered sources in their state

• States then submitted section 111(d) plans to EPA for review and approval

• EPA subsequently evaluated the plans and took action through notice and comment rulemaking

• EPA has authority to prescribe a plan for a state in cases where the state fails to submit a satisfactory plan and to enforce the provisions of a plan in cases where the state fails to enforce them

19 Common elements of past guidelines

• Description of the Best System of Emission Reduction (BSER) that has been adequately demonstrated

• Degree of emission limitation achievable, costs and environmental impacts of application

• Time required to implement

• Other information to facilitate development of state plans

• A goal for reductions

– or “standard of performance”

-- based on a BSER analysis

# Clean Air Act Section 111

How State Plans Have Worked

• States determine the combination of measures that will meet the guidelines

• State plans set standard of performance

– Can be identical to EPA’s guidelines (states adopt EPA’s model rules)

– Can differ from, but be equivalent to, EPA’s guidelines



### • State plans provide for implementation and enforcement

– States have had flexibility when applying the standard of performance in their plans to take into consideration, among other factors, the remaining useful life of the source



### • Timeframe to submit state plans has been set by EPA in the guidelines

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# Clean Air Act Section 111

Section 111(d) and Carbon Pollution

• In general, carbon pollution emissions differ from the pollutants that have been regulated in the past under section 111(d)

• Carbon pollution is:

– Global

– An order of magnitude greater than the other pollutants covered under section 111(d) in the past

– Accumulating and remaining in the atmosphere over hundreds of years



### • We have opportunities to explore various program designs and flexibilities because of the

– Broad statutory language of section 111(d)

– Unique characteristics of carbon pollution

– Interconnected nature of the power sector

2122 

## • Per the President’s Directive

– EPA will issue proposed carbon pollution standards, regulations, or guidelines, as appropriate, for modified, reconstructed and existing power plants

 By no later than June 1, 2014



### – EPA will issue final standards, regulations or guidelines, as appropriate

 By no later than June 1, 2015



### – EPA will include in the guidelines addressing existing power plants a requirement that states submit to EPA the implementation plans

 By no later than June 30, 2016 

# Next Steps: Actions and Timing