[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 240 (Tuesday, December 15, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 77591-77592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31461]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 97
[FRL-9940-10-OAR]
Allocations of Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Allowances From New
Unit Set-Asides for 2015 Control Periods
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of data availability (NODA).
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice
of the availability of preliminary lists of units eligible for
allocations of emission allowances under the Cross-State Air Pollution
Rule (CSAPR). Under the CSAPR federal implementation plans (FIPs),
portions of each covered state's annual emissions budgets for each of
the four CSAPR emissions trading programs are reserved for allocation
to electricity generating units that commenced commercial operation on
or after January 1, 2010 (new units) and certain other units not
otherwise obtaining allowance allocations under the FIPs. The
quantities of allowances allocated to eligible units from each new unit
set-aside (NUSA) under the FIPs are calculated in an annual one- or
two-round allocation process. EPA previously completed the first round
of NUSA allowance allocations for the 2015 control periods for all four
CSAPR trading programs, as well as the second round of allocations for
the CSAPR NOX Ozone Season Trading Program, and is now
making available preliminary lists of units eligible for allocations in
the second round of the NUSA allocation process for the CSAPR
NOX Annual, SO2 Group 1, and SO2 Group
2 Trading Programs. EPA has posted spreadsheets containing the
preliminary lists on EPA's Web site. EPA will consider timely
objections to the lists of eligible units contained in the spreadsheets
and will promulgate a notice responding to any such objections no later
than February 15, 2016, the deadline for recording the second-round
allocations of CSAPR NOX Annual, SO2 Group 1, and
SO2 Group 2 allowances in sources' compliance accounts. This
notice of availability may concern CSAPR-affected units in the
following states: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New
Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
DATES: Objections to the information referenced in this notice of
availability must be received on or before January 14, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Submit your objections via email to [email protected].
Include ``2015 NUSA allocations'' in the email subject line and include
your name, title, affiliation, address, phone number, and email address
in the body of the email.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning this action
should be addressed to Robert Miller at (202) 343-9077 or
[email protected] or Kenon Smith at (202) 343-9164 or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the CSAPR FIPs, the mechanisms by
which initial allocations of emission allowances are determined differ
for ``existing'' and ``new'' units. For ``existing'' units--that is,
units commencing commercial operation before January 1, 2010--the
specific amounts of CSAPR FIP allowance allocations for all control
periods have been established through rulemaking. EPA has announced the
availability of spreadsheets showing the CSAPR FIP allowance
allocations to existing units in previous notices.\1\
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\1\ The latest spreadsheet of CSAPR FIP allowance allocations to
existing units, updated in 2014 to reflect changes to CSAPR's
implementation schedule but with allocation amounts unchanged since
June 2012, is available at http://www.epa.gov/crossstaterule/actions.html. See Availability of Data on Allocations of Cross-State
Air Pollution Rule Allowances to Existing Electricity Generating
Units, 79 FR 71674 (December 3, 2014).
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``New'' units--that is, units commencing commercial operation on or
after January 1, 2010--as well as certain older units that would not
otherwise obtain FIP allowance allocations do not have pre-established
allowance allocations. Instead, the CSAPR FIPs reserve a portion of
each state's total annual emissions budget for each CSAPR emissions
trading program as a new unit set-aside (NUSA) \2\ and establish an
annual process for allocating NUSA allowances to eligible units. States
with Indian country within their borders have separate Indian country
NUSAs. The annual process for allocating allowances from the NUSAs and
Indian country NUSAs to eligible units is set forth in the CSAPR
regulations at 40 CFR 97.411(b) and 97.412 (NOX Annual
Trading Program), 97.511(b) and 97.512 (NOX Ozone Season
Trading Program), 97.611(b) and 97.612 (SO2 Group 1 Trading
Program), and 97.711(b) and 97.712 (SO2 Group 2 Trading
Program). Each NUSA allowance allocation process involves up to two
rounds of allocations to new units followed by the allocation to
existing units of any allowances not allocated to new units. EPA
provides public notice at certain points in the process.
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\2\ The NUSA amounts range from two percent to eight percent of
the respective state budgets. The variation in percentages reflects
differences among states in the quantities of emission allowances
projected to be required by known new units at the time the budgets
were set or amended.
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[[Page 77592]]
EPA has already completed the first round of allocations of 2015
NUSA allowances for all four CSAPR trading programs, as well as the
second round of 2015 NUSA allocations to units subject to the CSAPR
Ozone Season Trading Program, as announced in notices previously
published in the Federal Register.\3\ The first and second-round NUSA
allocation process was discussed in those previous notices. This notice
of availability concerns the second round of NUSA allowance allocations
for the CSAPR NOX Annual, SO2 Group 1, and
SO2 Group 2 Trading Programs for the 2015 control period.\4\
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\3\ 80 FR 30988 (June 1, 2015); 80 FR 44882 (July 28, 2015); 80
FR 55061 (September 14, 2015); 80 FR 69883 (November 12, 2015).
\4\ At this time, EPA is not aware of any unit eligible for a
second-round allocation from any Indian country NUSA.
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The units eligible to receive second-round NUSA allocations for the
CSAPR NOX Annual, SO2 Group 1, and SO2
Group 2 Trading Programs are defined in Sec. Sec. 97.411(b)(1)(iii)
and 97.412(a)(9)(i), 97.611(b)(1)(iii) and 97.612(a)(9)(i), and
97.711(b)(1)(iii) and 97.712(a)(9)(i), respectively. Generally,
eligible units include any CSAPR-affected unit that commenced
commercial operation between January 1 of the year before the control
period in question and November 30 of the year of the control period in
question. In the case of the 2015 control period, an eligible unit
therefore must have commenced commercial operation between January 1,
2014 and November 30, 2015 (inclusive).
The total quantity of allowances to be allocated through the 2015
NUSA allowance allocation process for each state and emissions trading
program--in the two rounds of the allocation process combined--is
generally the state's 2015 emissions budget less the sum of (1) the
total of the 2015 CSAPR FIP allowance allocations to existing units and
(2) the amount of the 2015 Indian country NUSA, if any.\5\ The amounts
of CSAPR NOX Annual, SO2 Group 1, and
SO2 Group 2 NUSA allowances may be increased in certain
circumstances as set forth in Sec. Sec. 97.412(a)(2), 97.612(a)(2),
and 97.712(a)(2), respectively.
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\5\ The quantities of allowances to be allocated through the
NUSA allowance allocation process may differ slightly from the NUSA
amounts set forth in Sec. Sec. 97.410(a), 97.510(a), 97.610(a), and
97.710(a) because of rounding in the spreadsheet of CSAPR FIP
allowance allocations to existing units.
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Second-round NUSA allocations for a given state, trading program,
and control period are made only if the NUSA contains allowances after
completion of the first-round allocations.
The amounts of second-round allocations of CSAPR NOX
Annual, SO2 Group 1, and SO2 Group 2 allowances
to eligible new units from each NUSA are calculated according to the
procedures set forth in Sec. Sec. 97.412(a)(9), (10) and (12),
97.612(a)(9), (10), and (12), and 97.712(a)(9), (10), and (12),
respectively. Generally, the procedures call for each eligible unit to
receive a second-round 2015 NUSA allocation equal to the positive
difference, if any, between its emissions during the 2015 annual
control periods (i.e., January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015) as
reported under 40 CFR part 75 and any first-round allocation the unit
received, unless the total of such allocations to all eligible units
would exceed the amount of allowances in the NUSA, in which case the
allocations are reduced on a pro-rata basis.
Any allowances remaining in the CSAPR NOX Annual,
SO2 Group 1, or SO2 Group 2 NUSA for a given
state and control period after the second round of NUSA allocations to
new units will be allocated to the existing units in the state
according to the procedures set forth in Sec. Sec. 97.412(a)(10) and
(12), 97.612(a)(10) and (12), and 97.712(a)(10) and (12), respectively.
EPA notes that an allocation or lack of allocation of allowances to
a given EGU does not constitute a determination that CSAPR does or does
not apply to the EGU. EPA also notes that allocations are subject to
potential correction if a unit to which NUSA allowances have been
allocated for a given control period is not actually an affected unit
as of the start of that control period.\6\
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\6\ See 40 CFR 97.411(c), 97.611(c), and 97.711(c).
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The preliminary lists of units eligible for second-round 2015 NUSA
allowance allocations for the three CSAPR annual trading programs are
set forth in Excel spreadsheets titled
``CSAPR_NUSA_2015_NOx_Annual_2nd_Round_Prelim_Data,''
``CSAPR_NUSA_2015_SO2_Group_1_2nd_Round_Prelim_Data,'' and
``CSAPR_NUSA_2015_SO2_Group_2_2nd_Round_Prelim_Data''
available on EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/crossstaterule/actions.html. Each spreadsheet contains a separate worksheet for each
state covered by that program showing each unit preliminarily
identified as eligible for a second-round NUSA allocation.
Each state worksheet also contains a summary showing (1) the
quantity of allowances initially available in that state's 2015 NUSA,
(2) the sum of the 2015 NUSA allowance allocations that were made in
the first-round to new units in that state (if any), and (3) the
quantity of allowances in the 2015 NUSA available for distribution in
second-round allocations to new units (or ultimately for allocation to
existing units).
Objections should be strictly limited to whether EPA has correctly
identified the new units eligible for second-round 2015 NUSA
allocations of CSAPR NOX Annual, SO2 Group 1, and
SO2 Group 2 allowances according to the criteria described
above and should be emailed to the address identified in ADDRESSES.
Objections must include: (1) Precise identification of the specific
data the commenter believes are inaccurate, (2) new proposed data upon
which the commenter believes EPA should rely instead, and (3) the
reasons why EPA should rely on the commenter's proposed data and not
the data referenced in this notice of availability.
Authority: 40 CFR 97.411(b), 97.611(b), and 97.711(b).
Dated: December 7, 2015.
Reid P. Harvey,
Director, Clean Air Markets Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs,
Office of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 2015-31461 Filed 12-14-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P