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May 31 , 2011 Kevin Culligan USEPA Headquarters Ariel Rios Building 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Mailcode: 6301A Washington, D.C. 20460

**RE: Consultation call on New Source Performance Standards**  **(NSPS’s) fo**  **r Greenhouse Gases**  **(GHG) from Utiliti**  **es**
Dear Kevin: My name is Joy Wiecks and I am the Air Quality Technician for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa ( FdL). Thank you for taking the time to speak with us on the conference call held on May 23 rd on the above regulatory action. F dL’s Air Coordinator, Alex Jackson, also participated on the call. We appreciate d the chance to listen to you explain the direction the above action is headed and to be able to ask question s . I wanted to put our verbal comments from the call in writing and also include some thoughts that have occurred to us since the call. First, thank you for undertaking this rulemaking. As you know, the utility sector contribute s about 40% of the greenhouse gases emitted in this country . We see this rulemaking effort as a crucial step toward starting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. However, the current proposal addresses only those sources agreed to in the re lated settlement agreement, namely fossil fuel

- fired boilers at electric generating f acilities that : combust more than 250 million Btu/hour heat input ; and sell more than one

-third of their potential electric output capacity ; and supply more than 25 megawatts electric output for sale. FdL supports expanding the current proposal to also in clude turbines from these facilities. Second, although this p oint was brought up in the call FdL wants to reiterate the EPA’s responsibility to write guidelines for controlling existing sources as part of a F ederal Implementation P lan , or to assist tribes in making these guidelines part of a Tribal Implementation P lan , so that they are enforceable in Indian Country. Additionally, these guidelines will probably allow for some discretion by states or tribes when they promulgate rules. One item that may be considered when promulgating these guidelines is the remaining useful life of the plant. FdL believes that utilities should not be allowed to keep units in use for decades beyond their original intent . In order to encourage the retirement of antiquated units, utilities should not be given leeway in controlling their source s merely because th ose source s are old and the costs of control equipment would be prohibitive. If an affected unit is proposing not to install

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controls based upon costs or upon the sho rt remaining useful life of the unit, please require permit conditions stating that the source must be retired within three years or face substantial compliance consequences. Third , FdL recommends expressing co ntrol requirements in an output

-based manner ( i.e. pound s of pollutant per kilowatt produced). This will have the effect of rewarding the most efficient units. We also encourage the development of a trading mechanism , with allowances to be awarded to early reducers and to electrical sources that us e renewable fuels . We believe this would be a great opportunity for tribes, many of whom fall into these categories, to either receive monetary compensation for their early efforts or to retire these credits. We would also support some type of emissions averaging, to allow flexibility for smoother, faster reductions. In the name of flexibility, FdL also support s the principal of allowing state programs to be found equivalent to the NSPS. We expect such programs to be vetted by the EPA to ensure that they are, indeed, credible programs. FdL would also like to encourage the EPA to extend greenhouse gas NSPS’s to regulate the off

grid, on

- site electrical generators operated at numerous facilities . While an action of this sort may be inappropriate in this rulemaking, please consider it for future rulemakings. Finally, FdL supports a phased approach to setting emissions standards, such as described in Option #4 on page 29 of your slide presentation. We feel this option offers a balance allowing for less st ringent measures early on, transitioning into more stringent requirements over the long term , with an overall emphasis on getting rid of antiquated technology that has outlived its initial purpose. Thank you for this opportunity to participate in the early phases of this rulemaking. We would appreciate having another tribal conference call after the rule comes out in draft form. If you have any question s , you can reach me at 218

- 878

- 7108 , or Alex Jackson at 218

- 878

- 7112. Sincerely,

Joy Wiecks F ond d u L ac Air Quality Technician

c.c. Wayne Dupuis

– F ond d u L ac Environmental Program Director Dennis Peterson

– F ond d u L ac Legal Counsel Darrel Harmon

– EPA HQ Laura McKelvey

– EPA OAQPS Ben Giwojna

– EPA Region 5