[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 88 (Friday, May 6, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27442-27443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-10754]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0495; EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0603; FRL-9946-09-OAR]
Reconsideration of Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas
Emissions From New, Modified, and Reconstructed Stationary Sources:
Electric Utility Generating Units
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of final action denying petitions for reconsideration.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received six
petitions for reconsideration of the final Standards of Performance for
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed
Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units, published in the
Federal Register on October 23, 2015. The agency is providing notice
that it is denying five of these petitions, and deferring action on the
issue of treatment of biomass raised in the petitions of both the
Biogenic CO2 Coalition and the State of Wisconsin. The basis
for the EPA's action is set out fully in a separate memorandum
available in the rulemaking docket.
DATES: Effective May 6, 2016.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Nick Hutson, Energy Strategies
Group, Sector Policies and Programs Division (D243-01), U.S. EPA,
Research Triangle
[[Page 27443]]
Park, NC 27711; telephone number: (919) 541-2968; facsimile number:
(919) 541-5450; email address: [email protected] or Mr. Christian
Fellner, Energy Strategies Group, Sector Policies and Programs Division
(D243-01), U.S. EPA, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone
number: (919) 541-4003; facsimile number: (919) 541-5450; email
address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Where can I get a copy of this document and other related
information?
A copy of this Federal Register notice, the petitions for
reconsideration, and the separate memorandum describing the full basis
for this action is available in the rulemaking dockets (Docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0495 and Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0603). In
addition, following signature, an electronic copy of this final action
and the memorandum will be available on the World Wide Web (WWW) at the
following address: https://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan.
II. Judicial Review
Section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) specifies which
Federal Courts of Appeal have venue over petitions for review of final
EPA actions. This section provides, in part, that ``a petition for
review of action of the Administrator in promulgating . . . any
standard of performance or requirement under section [111] of [the
CAA],'' or any other ``nationally applicable'' final action, ``may be
filed only in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia.''
The EPA has determined that its action denying the petitions for
reconsideration is nationally applicable for purposes of CAA section
307(b)(1) because the action directly affects the Standards of
Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and
Reconstructed Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units,
which are nationally applicable section 111 standards. Thus, any
petitions for review of the EPA's decision to deny petitioners'
requests for reconsideration must be filed in the United States Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia by July 5, 2016.
III. Background and Summary of the Action
On October 23, 2015, pursuant to section 111(b) of the CAA, the EPA
published the final rule titled ``Standards of Performance for
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed
Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units.'' (``section
111(b) greenhouse gas (GHG) new source performance standards (NSPS)'')
80 FR 64510.\1\ Following publication of the final rule, the
Administrator received petitions for reconsideration of certain
provisions of the final rule pursuant to CAA section 307(d)(7)(B).
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\1\ The rule is also often referred to as the ``Carbon Pollution
Standards.''
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CAA section 307(d)(7)(B) requires the EPA to convene a proceeding
for reconsideration of a rule if a party raising an objection to the
rule ``can demonstrate to the Administrator that it was impracticable
to raise such objection within [the public comment period] or if the
grounds for such objection arose after the period for public comment
(but within the time specified for judicial review) and if such
objection is of central relevance to the outcome of the rule.'' The
requirement to convene a proceeding to reconsider a rule is, thus,
based on the petitioner demonstrating to the EPA both: (1) That it was
impracticable to raise the objection during the comment period, or that
the grounds for such objection arose after the comment period but
within the time specified for judicial review (i.e., within 60 days
after publication of the final rulemaking notice in the Federal
Register, see CAA section 307(b)(1)); and (2) that the objection is of
central relevance to the outcome of the rule.
The EPA received six petitions for reconsideration of the CAA
section 111(b) greenhouse gas (GHG) new source performance standard
(NSPS) from the following entities: the Utility Air Regulatory Group
(UARG); American Electric Power (AEP); Ameren Corp. (Ameren); the
Energy and Environmental Legal Institute (EELI); State of Wisconsin;
and the Biogenic CO2 Coalition. The EPA is denying all but
the last of these petitions as not satisfying one or both of the
statutory conditions for compelled reconsideration. The EPA is
deferring action on the petition of the Biogenic CO2
Coalition pending our further on-going consideration of the underlying
issue of whether and how to account for biomass when co-firing with
fossil fuels.\2\
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\2\ The State of Wisconsin, in its petition, also raises the
issue of whether and how to account for biomass fuels for purposes
of determining compliance with applicable standards when biomass is
co-fired with fossil fuels. The EPA is likewise not acting at this
time on this portion of the State's petition.
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We discuss each of the five petitions we are denying and the basis
for those denials in a separate, docketed memorandum titled ``Basis for
Denial of Petitions to Reconsider the CAA section 111(b) Standards of
Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and
Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Utility Generating Units.''
For reasons set out in the memorandum, the petitions for review of
UARG, AEP, Ameren, EELI, and the State of Wisconsin (with the exception
of the issue regarding treatment of biomass) are denied.\3\
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\3\ The Administrator is also sending an individual letter to
each of the petitioners announcing her decision on their petition.
Dated: April 29, 2016.
Gina McCarthy,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2016-10754 Filed 5-5-16; 8:45 am]
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