Power plants are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the nation, emitting approximately 40 percent of all U.S. anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In recognition of the power sector’s contribution to GHGs, and armed with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2007 ruling that GHGs meet the definition of an “air pollutant” under the Clean Air Act (CAA),1 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule on March 27, 2012, limiting, for the first time, GHGs from new fossil fuel-fired power plants.2 The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has proposed a similar rule as it relates to the siting of new power plants in New York State.3 Most notable about these two proposals is the apparent adoption of policy positions by both agencies that will essentially restrict the construction of new power plants that burn coal.

Proposed Federal Regulation

Pursuant to CAA Section 111, the EPA has proposed establishing a New Source Performance Standard that would require new fossil fuel-burning power plants to emit no more than 1,000 pounds of CO2 gas for every one megawatt hour of power they generate (“1,000 lb CO2/MWh”) . For new coal plants, the proposed rule also includes a 30-year averaging option, which would allow coal plants to phase in emerging and expensive carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to reduce emissions over time, resulting in the same 1,000 lb CO2/MWh standard, but averaged over 30 years.