Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
that it is not feasible to prescribe or enforce a standard of performance, the
EPA Administrator is not authorized to require a new source ―to install and
operate any particular technological system of continuous emission reduction
to comply with any new source standard of performance.‖
Whether a court would find that EPA is imposing a ―particular
technological system‖ might come down to an interpretation of the term. There
are several different technologies for carbon capture under development. Does
the fact that they all result in capturing CO
2
make them a ―particular
technological system‖? Or would a court find that the option of switching fuels
to lower emissions means that sources can comply with the standard without
having to install and operate a particular technological system?
31
G
UIDELINES FOR
E
XISTING
P
OWER
P
LANTS
The potential impacts of the NSPS rule extend beyond new sources,
because the agency is obligated under Section 111(d) of the act to promulgate
guidelines for
existing
sources within a category whenever it promulgates
GHG standards for
new
sources.
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Using these guidelines, states will be
required to develop performance standards for existing sources. These could
be less stringent than the NSPS—taking into account, among other factors, the
remaining useful life of the existing source to which the standard applies—but
the standards could have far greater impact than the NSPS, given that existing
plants account for one-third of total U.S. GHG emissions.
The average coal-fired power plant is about 40 years old; some are more
than 60 years old. The older plants are generally less efficient than newer
units, and most operate only a small percentage of the time. Thus, the agency
might choose to set a guideline based on a less costly approach than
application of CCS to the units' emissions. In presentation slides that the
agency has used in stakeholder discussions, emphasis has been placed on
improving efficiency as a preferred approach to reducing GHG emissions.
33
In recent months, considerable attention has been given to a proposal by
the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) as to how Section 111(d)
guidelines might be structured.
34
Under NRDC's plan, each state would be
given an emission budget based on the mix of fuels used by EGUs in the state
to generate electricity in a base period (2008-2010 in the NRDC proposal).
States with more coal-fired generation would receive higher budgets than
those with more natural gas or renewable sources. The state budgets would be
