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May 6-12, 2023
In this week's issue:
- EPA Proposes Much-Anticipated Rules Addressing GHG Emissions from Fossil Fueled Power Plants (May 11, 2023)
- NACAA Testifies at EPA’s Public Hearing on Proposed Multipollutant Emission Standards for Light- and Medium-Duty Vehicles (May 9, 2023)
- EPA Administrator Testifies Before House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on EPA’s Budget (May 10, 2023)
- EPA Proposes Air Toxics Standards for Plywood and Composite Wood Products (May 5, 2023)
- EPA Proposes Air Toxics Standards for Taconite Iron Ore Processing (May 5, 2023)
- EPA Amends NSPS for Automobile and Light-Duty Truck Surface Coating Operations (May 9, 2023)
- ICCT Assesses Charging Infrastructure Needs Through 2030 to Support Transition to Zero-Emission Trucks and Buses (May 11, 2023)
- EPA Requests Information on Development of Programs to Invest $4 Billion in Clean Ports and Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles (May 8, 2023)
This Week in Review
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In a ceremony in College Park, MD, EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced proposed new rules addressing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil-fueled power plants. The 681-page proposal (EPA Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0072) would set emission limits for new gas-fired combustion turbines, existing coal, oil and gas-fired steam generating units, as well as certain existing gas-fired combustion turbines. In total, about 700 gigawatts (GW) of existing capacity would be affected under Section 111 (d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), and any new facilities beginning operation on or after the date of rule finalization (including 32 GW of currently proposed capacity) would be subject to regulation under Section 111 (b) of the CAA. The proposal includes four major rulemaking components. The first applies to coal-fired units. It sets the Best System of Emission Reductions (BSER) for coal-fired units, requiring 90% carbon capture and storage (CCS) for units expected to operate in 2040 and beyond, an 88.4 percent reduction. For units committing to retire before 2040, the proposal would require 40% co-firing with gas, a 16% emission reduction. Units retiring by 2035 can accept a utilization limit of 20 percent, and units that commit to cease operations by 2032 can continue business as usual, providing they commit to no emissions backsliding. In the second component of the proposal, existing gas turbines over 300 megawatts (MW) in size are offered two pathways: capturing 90 percent of their emissions by 2035 using CCS, or phasing in 30% low-GHG hydrogen co-combustion by 2032 and 96% co-combustion 2038. The third component of the rule applies to new gas turbines in three operational categories. For units operating less than 20 percent of the time, BSER is to use clean fuels with emissions varying from 120lb CO2/MMBtu to 160lb CO2/MMBtu, depending on fuel type. For power plants with capacity factors between 20% and 50%, before 2032, BSER will be 1150 lb CO2/megawatt hour (MWh), achievable with existing best-in-class turbine technology. Thereafter, BSER for new gas units will include the two pathways described for existing units: hydrogen co-combustion at 30 percent in 2032 (680 lb CO2/MWh) and 96 percent in 2038 (90 lb CO2/MWh); or 90 percent CCS in 2035 (90 lb CO2/MWh). EPA’s definition of “low GHG hydrogen” is fuel produced with less than 0.45 kg CO2 emitted per kg hydrogen from well-to-gate, consistent with definitions included in tax credit language in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The fourth component of the proposal repeals the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, finalized on June 19 2019 but never implemented. EPA said that it is seeking comment on variations to the subcategories and BSER limitations, and that it would seek comment on the potential additional regulation in a future rule of existing gas units under 300MW of capacity, which constitute about 23 percent of GHG emissions form the gas-fueled power plant fleet. Under Section 111 (d) of the CAA, states must submit plans to EPA about the establishment, implementation, and enforcement of standards of performance fort existing sources. In December 2022, EPA issued a proposal for implementing regulations that set a deadline of 18 months for submission of these plans, but in this proposal EPA proposes a two year deadline for the submission of these power plant plans. EPA’s proposal also articulates requirements for states to perform meaningful engagement with pertinent stakeholders as part of their plan development, including with communities most vulnerable to harms from the emissions from regulated sources. States would be allowed to offer compliance flexibility mechanisms like trading programs, but would need to demonstrate commensurate stringency to each source achieving its standard of performance. States could also propose less stringent standards for individual sources, using “remaining life and other factors” (RULOF) considerations described in the December 2022 implementing regulations proposal. EPA is proposing methodologies for states to use in establishing presumptively approvable standards of performance for most types of affected sources. In addition to CO2, EPA said that its proposed rule would also be expected to cut other air pollution, preventing 1,300 premature deaths and 300,000 asthma attacks in 2030. Climate and health net benefits of the rule would be up to $85 billion, with an annual net benefit that ranges from $5.4 billion to $5.9 billion. Administrator Regan also said that the impact on electricity prices would be 2 percent in 2030, 0.24 percent in 2035 and 0.08 percent in 2040. The requirements of Section 111 require that BSER must apply to systems that are “adequately demonstrated” and the proposal makes note of provisions under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, in which Congress raised existing “45Q” tax credits from $50 to $85 per ton of CO2 captured and stored. EPA will be conducting virtual public hearings for its proposal on June 6 and June 7, 2023, and will accept comments from the public for 60 days from the date pf publication in the Federal Register.
For further information:
and
Erik White (Placer County, CA), Co-Chair of the NACAA Mobile Sources and Fuels Committee, delivered NACAA’s testimony at EPA’s virtual public hearing on its proposed rule, “Multi-pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles.” White explained that NACAA is a long-time proponent of progressively more stringent multipollutant emission standards for passenger cars and light trucks. The association supported EPA’s 2012 rulemaking for greenhouse gas emission standards for model years 2017 and later and the agency’s 2021 repeal and replacement of a 2020 regulation that rolled back those standards. Likewise, NACAA supported EPA’s 2014 Tier 3 rule, which included vehicle and fuel standards that, when combined, reduced nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, direct particulate matter, carbon monoxide and air toxics. “We now welcome the agency’s multipollutant light- and medium-duty vehicle rule,” White testified, and the opportunity it affords “”to further advance this important program in a way that optimally reflects the potential of technological innovation and the unprecedented financial incentives provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.” In closing, White stated, “NACAA is optimistic that working with states, cities, counties and other stakeholders, EPA can finalize another step of standards that will protect and save lives, foster innovation, create prosperity and reduce the risks facing our climate.”
For further information:
https://www.4cleanair.org/wp-content/uploads/NACAA_Testimony-MultiP_LMDV_Proposal-050923.pdf
EPA Administrator Michael Regan testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Materials, defending the Administration’s FY 2024 proposed budget for the agency. The budget calls for $12.1 billion for EPA’s total budget, including $400.2 million for state and local air quality agency grants under Sections 103 and 105 of the Clean Air Act. Regan highlighted the agency’s priorities and responded to questions from the subcommittee, covering a range of topics in addition to the agency’s FY2024 budget. He was questioned about the agency’s upcoming proposal to reduce carbon emissions from power plants and at least one member of the panel indicated the subcommittee would request another hearing after the proposal is released. He was also questioned about the upcoming proposal for fine particulate matter. Regan has previously testified about EPA’s proposed FY 2024 budget before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and both the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.
For further information: https://energycommerce.house.gov/events/environment-manufacturing-and-critical-materials-subcommittee-hearing-the-fiscal-year-2024-environmental-protection-agency-budget
EPA has proposed amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the Plywood and Composite Wood Products source category. The proposal includes standards for processes with unregulated emissions of acetaldehyde, acrolein, formaldehyde, methanol, phenol, propionaldehyde, non-mercury HAP metals, mercury, hydrogen chloride, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins and furans and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate. It also includes proposed emission limitations and work practices applicable to process units and lumber kilns. The proposal is in response to the partial remand and vacatur of the 2004 rule and also a petition for reconsideration from environmental groups EPA received in 2020. There will be a 45-day public comment period after the proposal is published in the Federal Register.
For further information: https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/plywood-and-composite-wood-products-manufacture-national-emission
EPA has proposed amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Taconite Iron Ore Processing Plants, which was previously amended in 2020. The proposal includes modifications to existing emissions standards as well as new emissions standards for an unregulated pollutant. The source category includes any facility engaged in separating and concentrating iron ore from taconite, a low-grade iron ore, to produce taconite pellets. The source category includes liberation of the iron ore by wet or dry crushing and grinding in gyratory crushers, cone crushers, rod mills and ball mills; pelletizing by wet tumbling with a balling drum or balling disc; induration using a straight grate or grate kiln indurating furnace; and finished pellet handling. There will be a 45-day public comment period after the proposal is published in the Federal Register.
For further information: https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/taconite-iron-ore-processing-national-emission-standards-hazardous
EPA published in the Federal Register (88 Fed. Reg. 29,978) final amendments to the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Automobile and Light-Duty Truck (ALDT) Surface Coating Operations. With the final amendments, EPA creates a new subpart MMa that includes revised volatile organic compound (VOC) emission limits for affected prime coat, guide coat and topcoat operations for ALDT surface coating facilities that begin construction, modification or reconstruction after May 18, 2022. Subpart MMa also includes new work practices to minimize VOC emissions; revised plastic parts provisions; updates to the capture and control devices and related testing and monitoring requirements; revised transfer efficiency provisions; new and alternative test methods; and revised recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Further, EPA finalized electronic reporting requirements in the existing NSPS subpart MM, which apples to sources that begin construction, reconstruction or modification after October 5, 1979 and on or before May 18, 2022. EPA determined that these revisions to the NSPS were necessary to reflect the degree of emission limitations achievable through application of the best system of emission reduction. The final revisions took effect on May 9, 2023.
For further information:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-05-09/pdf/2023-09587.pdf
The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) released, “Near-Term Infrastructure Deployment to Support Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles in the United States,” in which the group captures when, where and how much infrastructure the U.S. must deploy to meet the energy needs of zero-emission trucks and buses through 2030. In the 40-page “white paper,” ICCT reports its projection of 1.1 million zero-emission trucks and buses on U.S. roads by 2030, of which the vast majority will be battery electric vehicles (not hydrogen) whose energy needs will be met with both slow- and fast-chargers of 50 kilowatts to over 1 MW. ICCT projects that by 2030 electrification of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles will “increase U.S. daily electric energy consumption by 140,000 MWh per day. This equates to around 1% of the total national electricity retail sales in 2021, representing a marginal increase in required electric power generation.” However, “high-energy demand” counties are expected to experience high charging loads of up to 132 MW, concentrated in freight zones (e.g., freight corridors, ports and industrial zones). Based on its modeling results and discussions with stakeholders, ICCT concludes that 1) U.S. heavy-duty charging infrastructure need not be built all at once; 2) medium- and heavy-duty energy needs are likely to materialize in states that have adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks program, but likely constitute upper bounds for other states; 3) setting targets for charging station deployment along key National Highway Freight Network corridors can accommodate up to 85 percent of long-haul charging needs by 2030; 4) electric utilities should plan for the significant loads that will come from electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and provide timely interconnections; and 5) there are many options for meeting both near- and long-term charging needs. Among the tables in the appendix to the paper are Tables A6 and A7, on the last three pages, which provide state-level energy needs and county-level energy needs, respectively, for medium- and heavy-duty vehicle charging.
For further information:
https://theicct.org/publication/infrastructure-deployment-mhdv-may23/
and
EPA published in the Federal Register (88 Fed. Reg. 29,666) a request for information (RFI) to inform the development of two programs into which the agency will invest $4 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA): 1) the Clean Ports Program ($3 billion), to “transform port infrastructure while boosting investments for zero-emission port equipment and technology that reduces climate and air pollutants and improves air quality at ports and surrounding communities” and 2) the Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicle Program ($1 billion), to provide “funding to offset the costs of replacing heavy-duty commercial vehicles with zero-emission vehicles, deploy infrastructure needed to charge, fuel, and maintain these zero-emission vehicles, and develop and train the necessary workforce.” Through this RFI, EPA is seeking to improve its understanding of zero-emission port equipment and trucks. The agency is particularly interested in information detailing the availability, market price and performance of zero-emission trucks, zero-emission port equipment, near-term electric charging and other fueling infrastructure needs for zero-emission technologies and whether the components of these systems are manufactured in the U.S. Responses to the RFI must be received by EPA by June 5, 2023. For further information:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-05-08/pdf/2023-09802.pdf,
and
https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/clean-ports-program#technicalRFI