10/13/2010

Re: Consultation on EPA's Proposed National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units:  Executive Order 13132, "Federalism"
Dear Intergovernmental Association Colleague:
      The purpose of this letter is to seek your input on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) forthcoming proposed rule to develop standards under the Clean Air Act (CAA) for air emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAP) from coal- and oil-fired electric utility steam generating units (EGUs).  To that end, we would like to invite you to a meeting to be held at EPA's Ariel Rios North building in room 6500 on October 27, 2010, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Ariel Rios North is located at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, and the public entrance is located on the 12[th] Street side, next to the Federal Triangle Metro escalators.
      Consultation is requested pursuant to the terms of Executive Order 13132, entitled "Federalism," which directs Federal agencies to consult with elected State and local government officials, or their representative national organizations, when developing regulations and policies that impose substantial compliance costs on state and local governments.   We currently estimate that approximately 113 facilities that may be affected by this action are owned by state/local jurisdictions.  Those state/local jurisdictions will be required to comply with the standards when finalized.  Additionally, state/local jurisdictions to which EPA has delegated authority will be directly involved in implementing and enforcing the standards. 
      Pursuant to this consultation process, EPA is contacting the National Governors Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, Council of State Governments, National League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors, County Executives of America, National Association of Counties, International City/County Management Association, National Association of Towns and Townships, and Environmental Council of the States to inform them and seek their input for this rulemaking.  As EPA has already consulted extensively with the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, they also will be invited to participate as technical observers.
      On March 29, 2005 (70 FR 15994), EPA published a final rule (Section 112(n) Revision Rule) that removed coal- and oil-fired electric utility steam generating units from the list of sources for which regulation under CAA section 112 was required.  This rule was published in conjunction with a rule requiring reductions in emissions of mercury from electric utility steam generating units (Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR), May 18, 2005, 70 FR 28606).  The Section 112(n) Revision Rule was vacated on February 8, 2008, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  As a result of that vacatur, CAMR was also vacated and coal- and oil-fired electric utility steam generating units remain on the list of sources that must be regulated under CAA section 112.  The Agency will develop standards under CAA section 112(d) which will reduce HAP emissions from this source category.
      The "electric utility steam generating unit" source category includes those units that combust coal or oil for the purpose of generating electricity for sale and distribution through the national electric grid to the public.  The source category includes investor-owned units as well as units owned by the Federal government, municipalities, and cooperatives, among others.  CAA section 112(a)(8) defines an "electric utility steam generating unit" as:
      any fossil fuel-fired combustion unit of more than 25 megawatts electric
      (MWe) that serves a generator that produces electricity for sale.  A unit
      that cogenerates steam and electricity and supplies more than one-third
      of its potential electric output capacity and more than 25 MWe output to
      any utility power distribution system for sale is also considered an electric
      utility steam generating unit.
      
      The national standards will apply to any existing, new, or reconstructed EGU.  Coal- and oil-fired EGUs have the potential to emit a number of HAP.  While all HAP are pollutants of interest, those of particular concern are hydrogen fluoride (HF), hydrogen chloride (HCl), dioxins/furans, and HAP metals, including antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, mercury, manganese, nickel, lead, and selenium.
      EPA is under court order to sign a proposed rule by March 16, 2011.  The purpose of the meeting will be to provide you with general background on this action and to answer questions you may have.  We would appreciate any input you can provide at the meeting. In addition, it would be most helpful if you could provide your written comments to us within thirty days after the meeting, so as to inform our discussions as we finalize the rule prior to proposal.  Please let us know if you will be able to attend by contacting Andrew Hanson in EPA's Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations at hanson.andrew@epa.gov or at 202-564-3664.
If you have questions or concerns regarding the rule or the consultation process, you may contact Robert J. Wayland of EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards at wayland.robertj@epa.gov or 919-541-1045.

The above e-mail was sent to the following addressees: 

Tamra.Spielvogel@ncsl.org, 
Max.Behlke@ncsl.org, 

mnellenbach@nga.org, 
bstrobridge@nga.org, 

sbrown@ecos.org, 

jsheahan@usmayors.org, 
randerson@usmayors.org, 
brosenberg@usmayors.org

berndt@nlc.org, 
wollack@nlc.org, 

 byuhas@icma.org, 
cfleming@icma.org, 

jimo@tfgnet.com, 
sstockdale@tfgnet.com

netheredge@csg.org, 
dmyers@csg.org

jufner@naco.org, 

kbrubach@countyexecutives.org, 
mgriffin@countyexecutives.org,
mdouglas@4cleanair.org
