Re: Consultation on EPA's Proposed Rulemaking for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from 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 rulemaking for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuelfired electric utility steam generating units (EGUs). Specifically, EPA plans to propose new 

source performance standards (NSPS) for GHG emissions from new and modified fossil fuelfired EGUs and emission guidelines for GHG emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired 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 1332 on April 12, 2011, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 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 123 state/local jurisdictions own facilities that may be affected by this action. 

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

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

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

Association, the National Association of Towns and Townships, and the Environmental Council 

of the States to inform them and seek their input for this rulemaking. The National Association 

of Clean Air Agencies also will be invited to participate as technical observers.

The proposed NSPS would be issued under authority of Clean Air Act (CAA) section 

111(b). In addition to the NSPS requirements established for new and modified sources, for 

pollutants not regulated under other parts of the CAA, EPA must establish emission guidelines 

under CAA section 111(d). States use the emission guidelines to develop plans for reducing 

emissions from existing sources. The guidelines include targets based on demonstrated controls, 

emission reductions, costs and expected timeframes for installation and compliance, and can be 

less stringent than the requirements imposed on new sources.

The proposed regulations would apply to EGUs capable of combusting more than 250 

million British thermal units per hour (MMBtu/hr) heat input of fossil fuel. An “electric utility

steam generating unit” is any steam electric generating unit that is constructed for the purpose of 

supplying more than one-third of its potential electric output capacity and more than 25 

megawatts electric (MWe) output to any utility power distribution system for sale. Fossil fuel 

means natural gas, petroleum, coal, and any form of solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel derived from 

such material for the purpose of creating useful heat. The regulations would not apply to 
stationary combustion turbines or natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) facilities. The regulations 

would, however, apply to integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC, i.e., “coal gasification”) 

units.

Under a settlement agreement announced by EPA on December 23, 2010, the proposed 

regulations would be issued by July 26, 2011, and after considering any public comments 

received concerning the proposed regulations, final regulations would be issued by May 26, 

2012. 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 forty-five days after the meeting, so as to inform our discussions as we develop the 

proposed rule. 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.