Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule entitled “Repeal of the Clean Power Plan; Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Existing Electric Utility Generating Units; Revisions to Emission Guidelines Implementing Regulations,” informally known as the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule.
The ACE Rule contains three EPA actions:
1. Repeal of the Clean Power Plan. The Clean Power Plan was EPA’s first attempt at setting limits on greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. Pursuant to a March 2017 executive order issued by President Trump, EPA undertook a review of the Clean Power Plan, ultimately concluding that the regulation was premised on a flawed legal interpretation of the Clean Air Act and must be repealed in its entirety.
2. Replacement of the Clean Power Plan. With the ACE Rule, EPA is replacing the Clean Power Plan with less stringent emission guidelines for greenhouse gases. EPA has determined that the “best system of emission reduction” (BSER) for greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired power plants is the implementation of heat rate (i.e., efficiency) improvement measures. The ACE Rule’s emission guidelines require states to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants to a degree that reflects the emission reductions that would be achieved by implementing efficiency improvement measures at individual coal-fired electric utility steam generating units.
3. Revision of the Implementing Regulations for Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. EPA had not significantly revised its general implementing regulations for emission guidelines issued under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act since the regulations were first issued in 1975. With the ACE Rule, EPA is issuing new implementing regulations that apply to the greenhouse gas emission guidelines for coal-fired power plants, as well as to all future emission guidelines for stationary sources issued under Section 111(d).
In publishing the ACE Rule, EPA largely finalized its proposed versions of these actions. However, EPA opted not to finalize a major portion of its ACE Rule proposal: revisions to the New Source Review (NSR) regulations, which impose permitting requirements for air emissions when a stationary source undertakes certain physical or operational changes. EPA originally proposed to revise the NSR regulations as part of the ACE Rule to prevent power plant efficiency improvements from triggering costly permitting requirements under the NSR program. EPA chose not to go forward at this time on the NSR revisions but plans to finalize the NSR revisions in a separate, future rulemaking.
The ACE Rule will take effect Sept. 6, 2019. Lawyers anticipate that the rule will be challenged immediately, particularly by environmental groups, which already have complained that the ACE Rule’s emissions guidelines will have the effect of increasing emissions from coal-fired power plants. Petitions for judicial review of the ACE Rule must be filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by September 6, 2019.
