3702 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 9 / Wednesday, January 15, 2025 / Rules and Regulations 

1One petitioner (Mountain State Energy 

Holdings, LLC) cited both the APA and CAA as 

bases for reconsideration and rulemaking; the 

second petitioner (Edison Electric Institute) did not 

cite any specific authority for its request for 

reconsideration. 

requirements, Student aid, Vocational 

education. 

Miguel Cardona, 

Secretary of Education. 

■ For the reasons stated in the preamble, 

the Department adopts the interim rule 

published on November 15, 2024, at 89 

FR 90221, as final without change. 

[FR Doc. 2025–00724 Filed 1–13–25; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 60 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2023–0072; FRL–12547–01– 

OAR] 

New Source Performance Standards 

for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From 

New, Modified, and Reconstructed 

Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating 

Units; Emission Guidelines for 

Greenhouse Gas Emissions From 

Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric 

Generating Units; and Repeal of the 

Affordable Clean Energy Rule; Final 

Action 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of final action denying or 

partially denying petitions for 

reconsideration. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) is providing 

notice that it has responded to two 

petitions for reconsideration of the final 

action titled, ‘‘New Source Performance 

Standards for Greenhouse Gas 

Emissions From New, Modified, and 

Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric 

Generating Units; Emission Guidelines 

for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From 

Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric 

Generating Units; and Repeal of the 

Affordable Clean Energy Rule’’, 

published in the Federal Register on 

May 9, 2024. The Administrator has 

denied or partially denied the requests 

for reconsideration in separate letters to 

the petitioners. The basis for the EPA’s 

action is set out fully in the 

accompanying decision document, 

available in the rulemaking docket. At 

this time, the EPA is not addressing 

other grounds for reconsideration that 

have been raised by these or other 

petitioners. 

DATES: Effective January 15, 2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa 

Thompson (she/her), Sector Policies and 

Programs Division (D243–02), Office of 

Air Quality Planning and Standards, 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

109 T.W. Alexander Drive, P.O. Box 

12055, Research Triangle Park, North 

Carolina 27711; telephone number: 

(919) 541–5158; and email address: 

thompson.lisa@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Where can I get a copy of this 

document and other related 

information? 

A copy of this Federal Register 

notice, the petitions for reconsideration, 

the letters denying the petitions and the 

accompanying decision document 

describing the full basis for the partial 

denial of these petitions are available in 

the docket the EPA established under 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2023– 

0072. In addition, an electronic copy of 

this final action will be available on the 

internet at https://www.epa.gov/ 

stationary-sources-air-pollution/ 

greenhouse-gas-standards-andguidelines-fossil-fuel-fired-power. 

II. Judicial Review 

This final action may be challenged in 

the United States Court of Appeals for 

the District of Columbia Circuit. 

Pursuant to CAA section 307(b)(1), 

petitions for judicial review of this 

action must be filed in that court within 

60 days after the date notice of this final 

action is published in the Federal 

Register. 

Section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act 

(CAA) governs judicial review of final 

actions by the EPA. This section 

provides, in part, that ‘‘a petition for 

review of action of the Administrator in 

promulgating . . . any standard of 

performance or requirement under 

section [111] of [the CAA],’’ or ‘‘any 

other nationally applicable regulations 

promulgated, or final action taken, by 

the Administrator under [the CAA] may 

be filed only in the United States Court 

of Appeals for the District of Columbia.’’ 

This final action is ‘‘nationally 

applicable’’ within the meaning of CAA 

section 307(b)(1) because it denies or 

partially denies petitions to reconsider 

the ‘‘New Source Performance 

Standards for Greenhouse Gas 

Emissions From New, Modified, and 

Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric 

Generating Units; Emission Guidelines 

for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From 

Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric 

Generating Units; and Repeal of the 

Affordable Clean Energy Rule,’’ which is 

a nationally applicable final action 

promulgating standards of performance 

and requirements under section 111 of 

the CAA. 89 FR 39798 (May 9, 2024) 

(‘‘Carbon Pollution Standards’’). This 

final action is nationally applicable 

because the result of this denial or 

partial denial of the petitions identified 

herein is that the Carbon Pollution 

Standards remain in place and 

undisturbed, and because any judicial 

order disturbing the EPA’s reasoning 

herein would affect regulated entities 

throughout the nation. 

Thus, any petitions for review of this 

final action denying or partially denying 

petitioners’ requests for reconsideration 

must be filed in the United States Court 

of Appeals for the District of Columbia 

Circuit by March 17, 2025. 

III. Description of Action 

On May 9, 2024, pursuant to CAA 

section 111 of the CAA, the EPA 

published a final action titled ‘‘New 

Source Performance Standards for 

Greenhouse Gas Emissions From New, 

Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil 

Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; 

Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse 

Gas Emissions From Existing Fossil 

Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; 

and Repeal of the Affordable Clean 

Energy Rule.’’ 89 FR 39798 (May 9, 

2024). Following publication of this 

final action, the Administrator received 

petitions for reconsideration of certain 

aspects of the Carbon Pollution 

Standards pursuant to the 

Administrative Procedure Act and Clean 

Air Act.1

The EPA carefully reviewed and 

evaluated each of these issues raised in 

the petitions for reconsideration based 

on the CAA section 307(d)(7)(B) criteria 

for reconsideration, as well as under 

section 553(e) of the Administrative 

Procedure Act (APA). For the reasons 

explained below, the EPA is denying, in 

part or whole, two petitions for 

reconsideration; specifically, the 

objections raised regarding EPA’s 

treatment of grid reliability, financing 

assertions related to new baseload 

natural gas-fired electric generation 

units (EGUs), and the inclusion of an 

enforceable backstop emissions rate in 

conjunction with mass-based 

compliance flexibilities for existing 

coal-fired steam-generating EGUs. 

We discuss each of the petitions we 

are denying or partially denying and the 

basis for those denials in the 

accompanying decision document titled 

‘‘The EPA’s Basis for Denying, in Part or 

Whole, Petitions for Reconsideration of 

the New Source Performance Standards 

for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From 

New, Modified, and Reconstructed 

Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating 

Units; Emission Guidelines for 


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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 9 / Wednesday, January 15, 2025 / Rules and Regulations 3703 

1OEQ houses the professional and administrative 

staff of CEQ, and the Chair of CEQ is the Director 

of OEQ ex officio. 42 U.S.C. 4372(a), (d)(1). This 

preamble refers to the Chair of CEQ and the Director 

of OEQ, and to CEQ and OEQ, interchangeably. 

2CEQ, Office of Environmental Quality 

Management Fund, 67 FR 62189 (Oct. 4, 2002). 

3Federal Plain Language Guidelines (1st rev. May 

2011), https://www.plainlanguage.gov/media/ 

FederalPLGuidelines.pdf. 4 67 FR 53461 (Aug. 16, 2002). 

Greenhouse Gas Emissions From 

Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric 

Generating Units; and Repeal of the 

Affordable Clean Energy Rule,’’ 

available in the rulemaking docket. At 

this time, the EPA is not addressing 

other grounds for reconsideration that 

have been raised by these or other 

petitioners. 

Jane Nishida, 

Acting Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2025–00659 Filed 1–14–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL 

QUALITY 

40 CFR Part 1518 

RIN 0331–AA09 

Office of Environmental Quality 

Management Fund 

AGENCY: Council on Environmental 

Quality. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) is 

amending its Office of Environmental 

Quality Management Fund regulations 

to clarify their meaning, modernize 

them to reflect developments in CEQ’s 

practices in administering the Office of 

Environmental Quality Management 

Fund (the Management Fund) since 

CEQ first adopted its regulations, and 

make administrative changes. 

DATES: This rule is effective January 15, 

2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Samuel Roth, Associate General 

Counsel, 202–395–5750, 

Samuel.E.Roth@ceq.eop.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Environmental Quality 

Improvement Act, as amended (Pub. L. 

91–224, Title II, April 3, 1970; Pub. L. 

97–258, September 13, 1982; and Pub. 

L. 98–581, October 30, 1984) established 

the Management Fund to receive 

advance payments from other agencies 

or accounts that may be used solely to 

finance (1) study contracts that are 

jointly sponsored by the Office of 

Environmental Quality (OEQ) and one 

or more other Federal agencies; and (2) 

Federal interagency environmental 

projects (including task forces) in which 

OEQ participates. 42 U.S.C. 4375(a). The 

statute requires the Director of the 

Office of Environmental Quality (OEQ) 

to promulgate regulations setting forth 

policies and procedures for operation of 

the OEQ Management Fund. 42 U.S.C. 

4375(c).1

The CEQ Chair approved internal 

policies and procedures for operation of 

the Management Fund in January 1985. 

On October 4, 2002, the CEQ Chair 

promulgated regulations governing the 

operation of the Management Fund.2

II. Summary of the Final Rule 

CEQ is amending its Management 

Fund regulations to clarify their 

meaning, including for consistency with 

the Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 

111–274) and the Federal Plain 

Language Guidelines,3 modernize them 

to reflect developments in CEQ’s 

practices in administering the 

Management Fund since CEQ first 

adopted its regulations, and make 

administrative changes. 

Section 1518.1—Purpose. CEQ revises 

this section to describe the purpose of 

the Office of Environmental Quality 

Management Fund as well as the 

purpose of part 1518, which is to set 

forth CEQ’s procedures for 

administering the Management Fund. 

Section 1518.2—Definitions. CEQ 

revises this section to define key terms 

that appear throughout part 1518. In 

particular, CEQ removes the definitions 

of the terms ‘‘advance payment,’’ which 

the prior regulations defined but did not 

use elsewhere in part 1518, and 

‘‘source,’’ which no longer appears in 

the regulations as revised. CEQ adds 

definitions for ‘‘environmental project’’ 

and ‘‘study contract’’ to clarify the 

meaning of those terms. These 

definitions are consistent with CEQ’s 

authorities under National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) and the Environmental Quality 

Improvement Act of 1970. CEQ also 

adds a definition of ‘‘personnel costs’’ to 

clarify the types of expenditures that 

CEQ may make from the Management 

Fund. Finally, CEQ adds definitions for 

‘‘payment’’ and ‘‘reallocation’’ to clarify 

how the regulations use those terms to 

describe the movement of funds to and 

from the Management Fund. 

Section 1518.3—Policy and general 

requirements. CEQ revises this section 

to more clearly explain the internal 

policies and procedures by which CEQ 

administers the Management Fund, 

including the types of expenditures that 

CEQ may make from the Management 

Fund, and to eliminate outdated 

provisions that no longer reflect CEQ’s 

business processes. 

Section 1518.4—Charters. CEQ 

revises this section, which describes the 

purpose of charters for environmental 

projects and study contracts that receive 

support from the Management Fund, to 

more clearly set forth what a charter 

must contain and to better explain the 

roles of the Director and the Project 

Officer in approving and amending a 

charter. 

Section 1518.5—Finances and 

accounting. CEQ moves the provisions 

on Management Fund finances and 

accounting from the previous 40 CFR 

1518.4(b) to § 1518.5. This section 

explains how agencies make payments 

into the Management Fund and 

specifies procedures for making 

expenditures from the Management 

Fund. CEQ makes clarifying changes to 

this section to improve its readability 

and better reflect current practices. 

Paragraph (a) requires the Project Officer 

for each environmental project or study 

contract receiving support from the 

Management Fund to prepare a budget 

estimate and update it annually. CEQ 

adds a new provision in paragraph (c)(1) 

that, consistent with longstanding 

practice, requires the Director to 

transmit a letter to an agency when 

requesting a payment into the 

Management Fund. 

III. Regulatory Analysis and Notices 

A. Administrative Procedure Act 

This rule relates to a matter of agency 

management or personnel and is a rule 

of agency organization, procedure, or 

practice. As such, this rule is exempt 

from the usual requirements of prior 

notice and comment and a 30-day delay 

in effective date. See 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2), 

(b), and (d). The rule is effective upon 

signature. 

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act and 

Executive Order 13272, Proper 

Consideration of Small Entities in 

Agency Rulemaking 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 

as amended, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., and 

E.O. 13272, Proper Consideration of 

Small Entities in Agency Rulemaking,4

require agencies to assess the impacts of 

rules on small entities. Under the RFA, 

small entities include small businesses, 

small organizations, and small 

governmental jurisdictions. An agency 

must prepare a final regulatory 

flexibility analysis unless it determines 

and certifies that a final rule, if 


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