10/13/2010

Re: Consultation on EPA's Proposed National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants 

for Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units: Executive Order 13132, 

"Federalism"

Dear Intergovernmental Association Colleague:

The purpose of this letter is to seek your input on the Environmental Protection Agency's 

(EPA) forthcoming proposed rule to develop standards under the Clean Air Act (CAA) for air 

emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAP) from coal- and oil-fired electric utility steam 

generating units (EGUs). To that end, we would like to invite you to a meeting to be held at 

EPA’s Ariel Rios North building in room 6500 on October 27, 2010, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

Ariel Rios North is located at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, and the public 

entrance is located on the 12th Street side, next to the Federal Triangle Metro escalators.

Consultation is requested pursuant to the terms of Executive Order 13132, entitled 

"Federalism," which directs Federal agencies to consult with elected State and local government 

officials, or their representative national organizations, when developing regulations and policies 

that impose substantial compliance costs on state and local governments. We currently estimate 

that approximately 113 facilities that may be affected by this action are owned by state/local 

jurisdictions. Those state/local jurisdictions will be required to comply with the standards when 

finalized. Additionally, state/local jurisdictions to which EPA has delegated authority will be 

directly involved in implementing and enforcing the standards. 

Pursuant to this consultation process, EPA is contacting the National Governors 

Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, Council of State Governments, National 

League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors, County Executives of America, National 

Association of Counties, International City/County Management Association, National 

Association of Towns and Townships, and Environmental Council of the States to inform them 

and seek their input for this rulemaking. As EPA has already consulted extensively with the 

National Association of Clean Air Agencies, they also will be invited to participate as technical 

observers.

On March 29, 2005 (70 FR 15994), EPA published a final rule (Section 112(n) Revision 

Rule) that removed coal- and oil-fired electric utility steam generating units from the list of 

sources for which regulation under CAA section 112 was required. This rule was published in 

conjunction with a rule requiring reductions in emissions of mercury from electric utility steam 

generating units (Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR), May 18, 2005, 70 FR 28606). The Section 

112(n) Revision Rule was vacated on February 8, 2008, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 

District of Columbia Circuit. As a result of that vacatur, CAMR was also vacated and coal- and 

oil-fired electric utility steam generating units remain on the list of sources that must be 

regulated under CAA section 112. The Agency will develop standards under CAA section 

112(d) which will reduce HAP emissions from this source category.

The “electric utility steam generating unit” source category includes those units that 

combust coal or oil for the purpose of generating electricity for sale and distribution through the 
national electric grid to the public. The source category includes investor-owned units as well as 

units owned by the Federal government, municipalities, and cooperatives, among others. CAA 

section 112(a)(8) defines an “electric utility steam generating unit” as:

any fossil fuel-fired combustion unit of more than 25 megawatts electric

(MWe) that serves a generator that produces electricity for sale. A unit

that cogenerates steam and electricity and supplies more than one-third

of its potential electric output capacity and more than 25 MWe output to

any utility power distribution system for sale is also considered an electric

utility steam generating unit.

The national standards will apply to any existing, new, or reconstructed EGU. Coal- and 

oil-fired EGUs have the potential to emit a number of HAP. While all HAP are pollutants of 

interest, those of particular concern are hydrogen fluoride (HF), hydrogen chloride (HCl), 

dioxins/furans, and HAP metals, including antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, 

cobalt, mercury, manganese, nickel, lead, and selenium.

EPA is under court order to sign a proposed rule by March 16, 2011. The purpose of the 

meeting will be to provide you with general background on this action and to answer questions 

you may have. We would appreciate any input you can provide at the meeting. In addition, it 

would be most helpful if you could provide your written comments to us within thirty days after 

the meeting, so as to inform our discussions as we finalize the rule prior to proposal. Please let 

us know if you will be able to attend by contacting Andrew Hanson in EPA's Office of 

Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations at hanson.andrew@epa.gov or at 202-564-3664.

If you have questions or concerns regarding the rule or the consultation process, you may contact 

Robert J. Wayland of EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards at 

wayland.robertj@epa.gov or 919-541-1045.
The above e-mail was sent to the following addressees: 

Tamra.Spielvogel@ncsl.org, 

Max.Behlke@ncsl.org, 

mnellenbach@nga.org, 

bstrobridge@nga.org, 

sbrown@ecos.org, 

jsheahan@usmayors.org, 

randerson@usmayors.org, 

brosenberg@usmayors.org

berndt@nlc.org, 

wollack@nlc.org, 

byuhas@icma.org, 

cfleming@icma.org, 

jimo@tfgnet.com, 

sstockdale@tfgnet.com

netheredge@csg.org, 

dmyers@csg.org

jufner@naco.org, 

kbrubach@countyexecutives.org, 

mgriffin@countyexecutives.org,

mdouglas@4cleanair.org