EPA Drops Existing Gas-Fired Plants from Contentious Power Plant GHG Rule

EPA Drops Existing Gas-Fired Plants from Contentious Power Plant GHG Rule

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will drop requirements covering existing natural gas-fired power plants in its final Section 111 rule regulating power sector greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which is expected in April.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan on Feb. 29 said in a written statement the agency’s rule—which the EPA will soon send to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)—will instead narrow its focus to existing coal and new gas-fired power plants.

The change is in step with the more than 1.3 million comments the EPA received in response to its May 2023 proposed rule, the agency said. It was also informed by “extensive and productive discussions with many groups of stakeholders to develop effective and workable climate standards that follow the law and are based on available and cost-effective technologies,” it noted.

Regan, however, suggested the agency will now work to craft a “new, comprehensive approach” to cover the “entire fleet of natural gas-fired turbines.” While a timeframe for the approach is unclear, Regan said the EPA’s approach may be more stringent, covering “more pollutants including climate, toxic and criteria air pollution.”

The EPA’s strategy to approach GHG emissions from the power sector in a two-fold phased approach presents a “stronger, more durable approach” that would achieve greater emissions reductions than the current proposal. Significantly, it will also “consider flexibilities to support grid operators and will recognize that ongoing technological innovation offers a wide range of decarbonization options,” he said.

Regan said the EPA will “immediately begin a robust stakeholder engagement process, working with workers, communities with environmental justice concerns, and all interested parties to help create a more durable, flexible, and affordable proposal that protects public health and the environment.”

A Contentious Rule

As POWER has reported, the power industry has fiercely pushed back against the EPA’s May 2023 proposal, which set new carbon pollution standards for new gas-fired combustion turbines, existing coal, oil, and gas-fired steam generating units, and certain gas-fired combustion turbines.

A key concern voiced by the industry in thousands of comments is that the emission reduction requirements would be achieved through performance standards to reflect the application of the best system of emission reduction (BSER). BSER, however, is based on EPA’s predictions regarding the future availability and capacity of various technologies, including carbon capture and sequestration(CCS) and hydrogen co-firing.

While the proposed rule, requires power-generating units to meet the standards in phases between 2024 and 2028, the power industry has cited practical misgivings, including technology gaps, technical limitations, and, prominently, that clean hydrogen’s production and availability are currently severely limited.

EPA Greenhouse Gas Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants Proposed Rule (May 2023).

—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior associate editor ( @sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).

Editor’s Note: This story is currently evolving and subject to change. We encourage you to revisit this article or check our website for the latest updates.