Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0660-0003
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2012-04-13T04:00Z

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 fuel-fired electric utility steam
generating units (EGUs).  Specifically, EPA plans to propose new source
performance standards (NSPS) for GHG emissions from new and modified
fossil fuel-fired 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.