The President’s memorandum establishes an ambitious timeframe for regulating existing power plants. EPA must issue proposed regulations by June 1, 2014, final regulations by June 1, 2015, and states must submit to EPA implementation plans by June 30, 2015. True to form, politicians and pundits from each side of the aisle have been quick to characterize President Obama’s unilateral executive action. According to some, it is part and parcel of “the most audacious seizure of pure legislative power over domestic economic matters attempted by the Executive Branch since President Harry Truman seized the nation’s steel mills during the Korean War.” (See discussion of EPA’s Tailoring Rule). According to others, it is “a strong step forward in our fight to protect our planet and our families from a climate crisis that is already hitting home with droughts, wildfires, floods, hurricanes and other forms of extreme weather.” Despite these conflicting sentiments that seemingly originate from antithetical universes, everyone agrees about one thing: Obama is taking significant strides forward, for better or worse, to regulate existing power plants.
The EPA recognizes two potential models for reducing carbon pollution: source-based and system-based. A source-based model exclusively considers supply-side emission reduction measures. Supply-side options are those occurring within-the-fence-line of a power plant. For instance, supply-side measures include heat rate improvement, switching to a lower-emitting fuel, or installing end-of-stack pollution control technology. In contrast, a system-based approach evaluates both supply- and demand-side opportunities for reducing carbon pollution. Demand-side options reduce end-use energy consumption beyond-the-fence-line of a power plant, e.g., changes in consumer behavior, using high-efficiency appliances, and weatherizing homes. By looking at both the front- and back-end of our energy market, a system-based model provides the public and private sector a holistic framework for curbing carbon pollution to the greatest extent possible in the most economically efficient way.
NRDC’s system-based approach is rooted in Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. To be subject to Section 111(d), a facility must fall within a narrow category of existing sources that emit a pollutant otherwise not regulated under the Clean Air Act. As a result of EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding, carbon dioxide and five other heat-trapping air pollutants became eligible for regulation under Section 111. EPA now must set emission guidelines detailing standards of performance for existing fossil-fueled power plants. In short, the standard of performance must be the “best system of emission reduction” (BSER) that is technologically feasible and economically achievable. Whether it promulgates a system- or source-based approach carries significant ramifications for stringency of EPA’s BSER determination.
Tags: climate action plan, coal-fired power plants, EPA regulations
