EPA Proposes to Repeal Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants from Coal-Fired Electric Generating Units

Earlier this year we blogged about how the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided exemptions from several National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) that became effective in 2024.  

We even predicted that the exemptions were a prelude to those NESHAPs being repealed.

Unfortunately, sometimes our predictions come true.  

The EPA on June 17 published a proposed rule that would repeal amendments that were made in 2024 to strengthen NESHAPs for coal-fired electric generating units.  

Most significantly, EPA has proposed the repeal of a standard for emissions of filterable particulate matter from coal-fired EGUs. Filterable particulate matter is a surrogate measure for all metallic hazardous air pollutants (excluding mercury) emitted by coal-fired EGUs.  

The 2024 NESHAPs reduced the emission limit for filterable particulate matter from coal-fired electric generating units from 0.03 pounds per million BTUs down to 0.01 lbs.  

And there will be impacts here in our corner of the Keystone State - there are still five coal-fired EGUs operating in western Pennsylvania.  

Each of these facilities would have had to reduce its emissions of filterable particulate matter from 0.03 lbs/MMBtu to 0.01 lbs/MMBtu to meet the emission standard that EPA proposes to repeal.  

The basis for the proposed repeal? The cost for facilities to comply with the filterable particulate matter emission limit. EPA can take cost-effectiveness into account when it reviews new control technologies for hazardous air pollutants, as it must every eight years under the Clean Air Act.  

In its proposed rule, EPA estimates that the cost of measures required for some plants to comply with the to-be repealed standard is $10.5 million per ton of non-mercury HAPs, which exceeds the EPA’s threshold for cost-effectiveness.

That exceeds the EPA’s threshold for cost-effectiveness, based on proposed emission standards that were rejected in 2015 and 2020: In 2015, EPA determined that emission controls for petroleum refineries that would have removed fPM at the cost of $10 million per ton were not cost effective, and in 2020 EPA determined that emission controls for iron and steel manufacturing facilities that would have removed fPM at the cost of $7 million per ton were not cost effective. 

“EPA’s discretion to make determinations like this is pretty much unlimited under the Clean Air Act, and underscores just how important who controls the administrative branch in Washington is to how much pollution is in the air we breathe,” said GASP’s Senior Attorney John Baillie.     

As part of its proposed rule EPA is also asking to repeal a requirement that coal-fired electric generating units demonstrate compliance with the filterable particulate matter emission standard by using a continuous emission monitoring system and a standard for mercury emissions from those that burn lignite (almost all of which are located in the western United States).

EPA is accepting comments on the proposed rule through August 11.  

EPA prefers that comments be submitted at https://www.regulations.gov.  

Submit your comments under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0794, and reference that docket number in your comments themselves.

GASP continues to follow this issue closely and will keep you posted.