(AGENPARL) – gio 25 aprile 2024 Issued: Apr 25, 2024 (11:20am EDT)
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Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Suite of Standards to Reduce Pollution
from Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants
Four final rules deliver on the Biden-Harris Administration’s day-one
commitment to lead on climate action and to protect all communities from
pollution
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7 – 11201 Renner Blvd., Lenexa,
KS 66219
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations
LENEXA, KAN. (APRIL 25, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency announced a suite of final rules to reduce pollution from fossil
fuel-fired power plants in order to protect all communities from pollution and
improve public health without disrupting the delivery of reliable electricity.
These rules, finalized under separate authorities including the Clean Air Act,
Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, will
significantly reduce climate, air, water, and land pollution from the power
sector, delivering on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to
protect public health, advance environmental justice, and confront the climate
crisis.
By announcing these final rules at the same time, EPA is following through on
the commitment that Administrator Michael S. Regan made to industry
stakeholders at CERAWeek 2022 to provide regulatory certainty as the power
sector makes long-term investments in the transition to a clean energy
economy. The standards are designed to work with the power sector’s planning
processes, providing compliance timelines that enable power companies to plan
in advance to meet electricity demand while reducing dangerous pollution.
“Today, EPA is proud to make good on the Biden-Harris Administration’s
vision to tackle climate change and to protect all communities from pollution
in our air, water, and in our neighborhoods,” said EPA Administrator Michael
S. Regan. “By developing these standards in a clear, transparent, inclusive
manner, EPA is cutting pollution while ensuring that power companies can make
smart investments and continue to deliver reliable electricity for all
Americans.”
“This year, the United States is projected to build more new electric
generation capacity than we have in two decades – and 96 percent of that
will be clean,” said President Biden’s National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi.
“President Biden’s leadership has not only sparked an unprecedented
expansion in clean electricity generation, his leadership has also launched an
American manufacturing renaissance. America is now a magnet for private
investment, with hundreds of billions of dollars committed and 270,000 new
clean energy jobs created. This is how we win the future, by harnessing new
technologies to grow our economy, deliver environmental justice, and save the
planet for future generations.”
The suite of final rules includes:
A final rule for existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants
that would ensure that all coal-fired plants that plan to run in the long-term
and all new baseload gas-fired plants control 90 percent of their carbon
pollution.  
A final rule strengthening and updating the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards
(MATS) for coal-fired power plants, tightening the emissions standard for
toxic metals by 67 percent and finalizing a 70 percent reduction in the
emissions standard for mercury from existing lignite-fired sources. 
A final rule to reduce pollutants discharged through wastewater from
coal-fired power plants by more than 660 million pounds per year, ensuring
cleaner water for affected communities, including communities with
environmental justice concerns that are disproportionately impacted.
A final rule that will require the safe management of coal ash that is placed
in areas that were unregulated at the federal level until now, including at
previously used disposal areas that may leak and contaminate groundwater.
Delivering Public Health Protections for Communities, Providing Regulatory
Certainty for the Industry, and Ensuring the Power Sector Can Provide Reliable
Electricity for Consumers
Finalizing these four rules delivers on the Administration’s commitment to
providing health protections for all communities, including communities with
environmental justice concerns, many of which are located near power plants.
At the same time, EPA is providing a predictable regulatory outlook for power
companies, including opportunities to reduce compliance complexity, and clear
signals to create market and price stability. Administrator Regan outlined
this approach in 2022 when he committed to transparency and open dialogue so
that state and federal energy regulators, power companies, and grid operators
have clear information on which to base decisions.
EPA conducted regulatory impact analyses for each rule, showing that this
suite of standards will deliver hundreds of billions of dollars in net
benefits. EPA also performed a sensitivity analysis exploring the combined
effect on the power sector of the carbon pollution, air toxics, and water
rules, as well as EPA’s recent rules for the transportation sector. The
projections regarding changes in electricity supply and demand align with
recent reports from the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Renewable
Energy Laboratory and peer-reviewed research in showing that the sector can
meet growing demand for electricity and provide reliable, affordable
electricity at the same time as it reduces pollution in accordance with these
rules to protect health and the planet.
With the announcement today, the power sector can make planning decisions with
a full array of information. In fact, the agency’s analysis indicates that
issuing these rules at the same time is likely to create more efficiency for
facilities that are now able to evaluate compliance steps together rather than
only for each rule in isolation. Therefore, adding the cost of the rules
modeled independently would likely reflect an overestimate of total costs.
“The new rules to clean up air pollution from power plants are good news for
everyone, especially if there is a power plant near where you work, live or
study. The American Lung Association applauds Administrator Regan and the
entire team of professionals at the EPA for their resolute commitment to
public health and environmental justice,” said Harold Wimmer, President and
CEO of the American Lung Association. “Burning fossil fuels in power plants
harms people’s lungs, makes kids sick and accelerates the climate crisis.
The stronger clean air and climate protections will save lives.”
“These rules call on utilities and states to be full partners in making this
transition fair for energy workers and communities,” said BlueGreen Alliance
Executive Director Jason Walsh. “It also complements the historic federal
investments made by the Biden-Harris administration and the previous Congress,
which provide a toolbox of critical investments targeted to the workers and
communities experiencing the economic impacts of energy transition.”
Stronger Carbon Pollution Standards for New Gas and Existing Coal Power Plants
EPA’s final Clean Air Act standards for existing coal-fired and new natural
gas-fired power plants limit the amount of carbon pollution covered sources
can emit, based on proven and cost-effective control technologies that can be
applied directly to power plants. The regulatory impact analysis projects
reductions of 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution overall through
2047, which is equivalent to preventing the annual emissions of 328 million
gasoline cars, or to nearly an entire year of emissions from the entire U.S.
electric power sector. It also projects up to $370 billion in climate and
public health net benefits over the next two decades.
The rule addresses existing coal-fired power plants, which continue to be the
largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, and ensures
that new natural gas combustion turbines, some of the largest new sources of
greenhouse gases being built today, are designed using modern technologies to
reduce climate pollution.
The climate and health benefits of this rule substantially outweigh the
compliance costs. In 2035 alone, the regulatory impact analysis estimates
substantial health co-benefits including:
Up to 1,200 avoided premature deaths
870 avoided hospital and emergency room visits
1,900 avoided cases of asthma onset
360,000 avoided cases of asthma symptoms
48,000 avoided school absence days
57,000 lost workdays
The final emission standards and guidelines will achieve substantial
reductions in carbon pollution at reasonable cost. The best system of emission
reduction for the longest-running existing coal units and most heavily
utilized new gas turbines is based on carbon capture and sequestration/storage
(CCS) – an available and cost-reasonable emission control technology that
can be applied directly to power plants and can reduce 90 percent of carbon
dioxide emissions from the plants.
Lower costs and continued improvements in CCS technology, alongside tax
incentives from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that allow
companies to largely offset the cost of CCS, represent recent developments in
emissions controls that informed EPA’s determination of what is technically
feasible and cost-reasonable. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also includes
billions of dollars to advance and deploy CCS technology and infrastructure.
EPA projects that the sector can comply with the standards with negligible
impact on electricity prices, thanks to cost declines in CCS and other
emissions-reducing technologies. EPA analysis also finds that power companies
can comply with the standards while meeting grid reliability, even when
considering increased load growth.
The final rule includes requirements to help ensure meaningful engagement with
affected stakeholders, including communities with environmental justice
concerns, overburdened by pollution and climate change impacts, as well as the
energy communities and workers who have powered our nation for generations.
The standard also requires states to provide transparent data on compliance
pathways and timelines through the state planning process, ensuring that
workers and communities have the best-available information to plan for
changes in the sector. President Biden’s Interagency Working Group on Coal
and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization has identified
historic resources for energy communities to invest in infrastructure, deploy
new technologies that can help clean up the electric power sector, support
energy workers, and spur long-term economic revitalization. The final rule
also follows guidance from the Council on Environmental Quality to ensure that
deployment of CCS technologies is done in a responsible manner that
incorporates the input of communities and reflects the best available science.
In addition to finalizing these rules, EPA has opened a non-regulatory docket
and issued framing questions to gather input about a comprehensive approach to
reduce GHG emissions from the entire fleet of existing gas combustion turbines
in the power sector. EPA is committed to expeditiously proposing GHG emission
guidelines for these units, as part of a comprehensive approach to the
regulation of climate, toxic and air pollution from combustion turbines. 
To view the fact sheet for this rulemaking visit EPA’s Greenhouse Gas
Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants webpage.
Strengthening Mercury and Air Toxics Standards
EPA is strengthening and updating the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS)
for coal-fired power plants, achieving important hazardous air pollutant (HAP)
emissions reductions and ensuring that the standards reflect the latest
advancement in pollution control technologies. This final rule under the Clean
Air Act is the most significant update since MATS was first issued in February
2012, building on highly successful and cost-effective protections.
EPA projects the final rule will reduce emissions of mercury and non-mercury
metal HAPs, such as nickel, arsenic, and lead. Controlling these emissions
from power plants improves public health for all Americans by reducing the
risk of fatal heart attacks, cancer, developmental delays in children, and
also reduces adverse environmental impacts. The final rule will also result in
substantial co-benefits, including reductions in emissions of fine particulate
matter (“soot”), sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide
nationwide. These public health improvements are especially important for
children and communities with environmental justice concerns and others who
regularly consume fish that accumulate high levels of pollutants from power
plants.??
The final rule reduces the mercury emissions limit by 70 percent for
lignite-fired units and reduces the emissions limit that controls for toxic
metals by 67 percent for all coal plants—while also requiring the use of
continuous emission monitoring systems to provide real-time, accurate data to
regulators, facility operators, and the public to ensure that plants are
meeting these lower limits and that communities are protected year-round from
pollution exposure.
EPA projects that the final MATS limits will result in the following emissions
reductions in the year 2028: 
1,000 pounds of mercury
At least 7 tons of non-mercury HAP metals
770 tons of fine particulate matter (PM2.5)
280 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx)
65,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2)
EPA’s final rule projects $300 million in health benefits and $130 million
in climate benefits over the 10-year period from 2028-2037. Reductions in
non-mercury HAP metal emissions are expected to reduce exposure to carcinogens
such as nickel, arsenic, and hexavalent chromium, for residents living in the
vicinity of these facilities.
To view the fact sheet for this rulemaking visit EPA’s Mercury and Air
Toxics Standards webpage.
Stronger Limits on Water Pollution from Power Plants
EPA is strengthening wastewater discharge standards that apply to coal-fired
power plants, finalizing a rule that follows the latest science and applies
EPA’s longstanding authority under the Clean Water Act to reduce discharges
of toxic metals and other pollutants from these power plants into lakes,
streams, and other waterbodies. When implemented, this action will annually
prevent more than 660 million pounds of pollution per year from being
discharged to our nation’s waters—protecting freshwater resources that
provide sources of drinking water for communities, support economic
development, enhance outdoor recreation, and sustain vibrant ecosystems.
Power plants that burn coal to create electricity use large volumes of water.
When this water is returned to lakes, streams, and other waterbodies it can
carry pollutants, including mercury, arsenic, selenium, nickel, bromide,
chloride, and iodide, and nutrient pollution. Exposure to these pollutants can
harm people and ecosystems by contaminating drinking water sources,
recreational waters, and aquatic life.
EPA’s final rule establishes technology-based discharge standards—known as
Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELGs)—that will apply to four types of
wastewater:
Flue gas desulfurization wastewater
Bottom ash transport water
Combustion residual leachate
“Legacy wastewater” that is stored in surface impoundments (for example,
coal ash ponds)
The agency’s final rule includes implementation flexibilities for power
plants. For example, the final rule creates a new compliance path for
electricity generating units that permanently stop burning coal by 2034. These
units will be able to continue meeting existing requirements instead of the
requirements contained in this final regulation. In a separate action
finalized last year, EPA updated but maintained an existing provision allowing
units to comply with less stringent standards if they will permanently stop
burning coal by 2028.
Following rigorous analysis, EPA has determined that this final rule will have
minimal effects on electricity prices. EPA’s analysis shows that the final
rule will provide billions of dollars in health and environmental benefits
each year. These water quality, health, and environmental improvements will
benefit environmental justice communities that are disproportionately affected
by pollution from coal-fired power plants.
To view the fact sheet for this rulemaking visit EPA’s Steam Electric Power
Generating Effluent Guidelines webpage.
Latest Action to Protect Communities from Coal Ash Contamination
Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, EPA is finalizing a rule to
protect communities and hold polluters accountable for controlling and
cleaning up the contamination created by the disposal of coal combustion
residuals (CCR or coal ash), which can cause serious public health risks. The
agency is finalizing regulations that require the safe management of coal ash
at inactive surface impoundments at inactive power plants and historical coal
ash disposal areas.
Coal ash is a byproduct of burning coal in power plants that, without proper
management, can pollute waterways, groundwater, drinking water, and the air.
Coal ash contains contaminants like mercury, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic
which are associated with cancer and various other serious health effects.
EPA’s final rule expands protections for the communities and ecosystems near
active and inactive coal burning power plants, ensuring that groundwater
contamination, surface water contamination, fugitive dust, floods and
impoundment overflows, and threats to wildlife are all addressed.
Inactive coal ash surface impoundments at inactive facilities, referred to as
“legacy CCR surface impoundments,” are more likely to be unlined and
unmonitored, making them more prone to leaks and structural problems than
units at facilities that are currently in service. To address these concerns,
EPA established safeguards for legacy coal ash surface impoundments that
largely mirror those for inactive impoundments at active facilities, including
requiring the proper closure of the impoundments and remediating coal ash
contamination in groundwater. EPA analysis shows the final rule will reduce
existing disproportionate and adverse effects on communities with
environmental justice concerns.
In addition, through implementation of the 2015 CCR rule, EPA found
“historic” disposal units that are leaking and contaminating groundwater
at currently regulated power plants, but which were exempt under the original
2015 regulations. These are areas where coal ash was placed directly on the
land, such as coal ash in surface impoundments and landfills that closed prior
to the effective date of the 2015 CCR Rule and inactive CCR landfills. This
final rule extends a subset of EPA’s existing CCR requirements to these
historic disposal units that will ensure any contamination from these areas is
remediated, and will prevent further contamination. These requirements will
apply to all active CCR facilities and inactive facilities with legacy CCR
surface impoundments.
EPA does not expect this rule to affect the current operations of power
plants, and therefore anticipates no impacts to electricity generation or grid
reliability. This rule reflects the Administration’s commitment to reduce
pollution from the power sector while providing long-term regulatory certainty
and operational flexibility.
To view the fact sheet for this rulemaking visit EPA’s Legacy Coal
Combustion Residuals Surface Impoundments and CCR Management Units webpage.
# # #
Learn more about EPA Region 7
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