Transcript EPA’s Rule to reduce toxics and other pollutants from

Reducing Toxic Pollution from Power Plants
EPA’s Proposed Mercury and Air Toxics Standards
March 22, 2011
Overview of the Regulatory Action
•
On March 16, EPA proposed Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, the first national standards to
reduce emissions of toxic air pollutants from new and existing coal- and oil-fired power plants –
often the biggest contributors to air pollution
•
Standards would reduce emissions of:
•
Metals, including mercury (Hg), arsenic, chromium, and nickel
•
Acid gases, including hydrogen chloride (HCl) and hydrogen fluoride (HF)
•
Particulate matter
•
These pollutants are linked to cancer, IQ loss, heart disease, lung disease and premature death
•
Standards create uniform emissions-control requirements based on proven, currently in-use
technologies and processes
•
Compliance time line set by Clean Air Act: up to 4 years (3 years plus an additional year if granted
by the permitting authority)
•
EPA is also proposing a new source performance standard (NSPS) for particulate, sulfur dioxide
(SO2), and nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions from new sources
2
Toxic Emissions from Power Plants Are a
Serious Public Health Concern
•
•
Power plants release mercury, arsenic, other metals, acid gases, and particles that all harm
people’s health.
•
Uncontrolled releases of mercury from power plants damage children’s developing brains,
reducing their IQ and their ability to learn
•
Mercury and many of the other toxic pollutants also pollute our nation’s lakes, streams, and
fish
•
Other metals such as arsenic, chromium, and nickel can cause cancer
•
Acid gases cause lung damage and contribute to asthma, bronchitis and other chronic
respiratory disease, especially in children and the elderly
•
Particles cause premature death and a wide range of lung and heart diseases
People who eat large amounts of fish from mercury-contaminated freshwater lakes and rivers in
the U.S. are at the greatest risk of exposure
•
•
This includes Native American, Laotian, Vietnamese, African-American, Hispanic, and
Caucasian subsistence fishers and their families
The standards would also result in additional reductions of SO2, preventing thousands of deaths
and hundreds of thousands of illnesses each year
3
Power Sector:
A Major Share of US Air Emissions
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), 2009
9.5 Million Tons
3.8 Million Tons
40%
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), 2009
15.3 Million Tons
Electric
Power
13.3 Million Tons
87%
Other
Sectors
2.0 Million Tons
13%
Other
Sectors
3.9 Billion Tons
60%
5.7 Million Tons
60%
Mercury (Hg), 2005
105 TonsElectric
Particulate Matter (PM10), 2008
14.8 Million Tons
Power
53 Tons
50%
0.5 Million Tons
4%
Electric
Power
14.3 Million Tons
96%
Other
Sectors
2.6 Billion Tons
40%
Electric
Power
Other
Sectors
Electric
Power
Electric
Power
Carbon Dioxide (CO2), 2008
6.5 Billion Tons
52 Tons
50%
Sources:
NEI Trends Data (2009) and CAMD Data & Maps (2010) (SO2, NOX)
NEI Trends Data (2009) (PM10)
2005 NATA Inventory Modified for the Utility MACT 2005 Base Year (2010) (Hg)
Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2008 (2010) (CO2)
“Other” sources include transportation, other mobile sources, and industrial sources
Other
Sectors
Other emissions include:
 Trace metals (nickel, arsenic,
selenium and others)
 HCl, HF
 Dioxin/furans
 Trace organics
 Others (e.g., cyanide)
 Radionuclides
Emissions have substantial public health,
environment, and other welfare
implications.
4
In the U.S., Power Plants Emit:
13% of
the NOx
60% of
the SO2
60% of
30% of
the nickel
20% of the chromium
50% of the mercury
over 50% of
many acid gases
the arsenic
organics,
dioxins/furans,
and others
Sources: NEI Trends Data (2009) and
IPM (2010) (SO2, NOX); Proposed toxics
rule modeling platform, based on
inventory used for 2005 NATA (Hg);
Inventory used for 2005 NATA (other
toxics)
5
History of Clean Air Act Power Plant Controls for
Mercury/Air Toxics
• 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments created Acid Rain provisions and revised provisions
to require controls to reduce emissions of toxic air pollutants from industrial sources
• EPA was required to do a study within 3 years, and then list power plants for regulation under the
air toxics provisions if the Administrator found that it was appropriate and necessary
• 1998: EPA released Utility Toxics Study Report to Congress
• 2000: EPA listed power plants for regulation under the Clean Air Act air toxics provisions
• Once listed, EPA had 2 years to issue an air toxics standard
• Mercury cited as pollutant of greatest concern but other toxics include arsenic, chromium,
cadmium, nickel, hydrochloric acid, dioxin/furan
• 2005: Bush Administration EPA reversed 2000 finding, de-listed power plants from regulation
under air toxics provisions, and finalized Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) – allowing trading
• 2008: DC Circuit found the de-listing to be illegal and vacated CAMR
• EPA must propose utility MACT standards by March 16, 2011, and issue final standards by
November 16, 2011, pursuant to a consent decree
• EPA’s proposed rule requires power plant controls for toxics, including mercury, to be issued in
2011 and require compliance by existing sources 3-4 years later
• A quarter of a century will have passed since the 1990 Clean Air Act became law
6
Power Plants Are the Largest Remaining
Source of Mercury Emissions in the U.S.
•
In 1990 three industry
categories made
approximately two-thirds
of total U.S. mercury
emissions
– Two of the three are now
subject to air toxics
standards
– So are many other
industries such as cement
plants and steel
manufacturers
•
Today, 20 years after the
1990 CAA Amendments
passed, no Federal limit for
toxic emissions – including
mercury – exists for coalor oil-fired power plants
1990
Emissions
tons per
year (tpy)
2005
Emissions
(tpy)
%
Reduction
Power
Plants
59
53
10%
Municipal
Waste
Combustors
57
2
96%
Medical
Waste
Incinerators
51
<1
>98%
Industrial
Category
Source: EPA’s 2005 NATA Inventory Modified for the Toxics Rule 2005 Base
Year (2010)
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Affected Facilities: 1,350 Coal and
Oil-Fired Units at 525 Power Plants
• Approximately 1,200 coal-fired units
• 45% percent of nationwide electricity generation
• Bituminous coal ~ 50% of coal generation
• Subbituminous ~45% of coal generation
• Lignite ~ 5% of coal generation
• Includes units that burn coal, coal refuse, or a
synthetic gas derived from coal or solid oil (e.g.
petroleum coke) either exclusively, in any
combination together, or in any combination with
other supplemental fuels (e.g., tire-derived fuels)
• Approximately 150 oil-fired units
• 1% of nationwide electricity generation
• Natural gas power plants are not affected by this rule
• EPA expects most facilities would install technologies to
comply with this rule
8
Location of Coal- and Oil-Fired Power Plants
Source: National Electric Energy Data System (NEEDS 4.10) (EPA, December 2010)
9
What the Toxics Rule Proposes
• Coal- and oil-fired power plants are covered by this rule
• All hazardous air pollutants must have standards
• EPA must set emission standards for existing sources in the category that
are at least as stringent as the emission reductions achieved by the
average of the top 12% best controlled sources for source categories with
30 or more sources
• Requirements for Coal-Fired Units
– Mercury: numeric emission limit would prevent 91% of mercury in coal from
being released to the air
– Acid Gases: HCl numeric emission limit as a surrogate, with an alternate
surrogate of SO2
– Non-mercury metallic pollutants (e.g., arsenic, chromium): numeric emission
limit for total PM as a surrogate, with an alternate surrogate of total metal air
toxics
– Organic air toxics (including dioxin/furans): work practice standards, instead
of numeric emission limits, due to low-detected emission levels in the ICR
data. Would ensure optimal combustion preventing dioxin/furan emissions
10
What the Toxics Rule Proposes (cont.)
• Requirements for Oil-Fired Units
– Acid Gases: HCl and HF numerical emission limits
– Metal Air Toxics: numerical emission limits for total metal air toxics (including
mercury) with individual metal air toxic numerical limits as an alternate
– Organic air toxics (including dioxin/furans): work practice standards, instead
of numeric emission limits, due to low-detected emission levels in the ICR
data. Would ensure optimal combustion preventing dioxin/furan emissions
• Emissions averaging within a contiguous facility is allowed
• Monitoring Requirements
–
–
–
–
Hg CEMS or sorbent traps for mercury
HCl CEMS or SO2 CEMS for acid gases
PM CEMS for metals
Emissions testing, parameter monitoring, and fuel analyses allowed for metals
and acid gases
– Thirty day averaging period for monitoring accommodates process variability
and, coupled with CEMS, facilitates compliance
– Records of work practice standards (annual tune ups) are proposed for organic
11
HAP emissions
Emissions from Covered Sources
SO2 Emissions
Million Tons
6
60
5.8
5
3.8
4
3
3.7
1.7
2
3.5
1.7
1.7
0
2020
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2030
►
►
►
6.6
2005
2015
70.8
6.9
64.8
7.2
2020
2030
Note: Historic HCl emissions based on single emission factor; projected
emissions based on fuel-specific Cl assumptions and removal efficiencies.
6.4
2005
351.6
74.4
29.4
29.6
20
0
2015
29.1
30
10
HCl Emissions
Thousand Tons
40
1
2009
52.9
50
Tons
7
Hg Emissions
►
2015
6.5
2020
6.6
2030
The base case includes the Transport Rule as proposed and all
other existing federal and state controls and enforceable
agreements.
Emission totals presented here reflect all covered coal steam and
IGCC electric generating units > 25 MW.
The policy case imposes mercury and HCl emission rate
limitations on these units, and requires fabric filters on a subset
of those units.
The mercury content of the coal consumed in the base case by
EGUs > 25 MW is 75 tons in 2015; emissions from those units
under the Toxics Rule represent more than a 90% reduction in
that mercury.
12
Sources Can Achieve These Standards
• Proven control technologies to reduce these emissions such as scrubbers, fabric filters,
and activated carbon injection are widely available
• Many units already use one or more of these technologies
• As a result of this standard, some power plants will upgrade existing controls (especially
particulate matter controls like electrostatic precipitators)
• Power plants may also install new controls (such as fabric filters, dry sorbent injection, or
activated carbon injection)
350
2015 Capacity (GW)
300
Base
Proposed Toxics Rule
243
250
200
174
175
141
150
100
29
146
77
65
54
50
146
53
9
0
Wet FGD
Dry FGD
DSI
FGD – 96% SO2 removal; 99% HCl removal
SCR – 80% NOx removal
FF – PM control
SCR
ACI
FF
Retrofit pollution control installations
on coal-fired capacity (by
technology) with the base case and
with the proposed Toxics Rule, 2015
(measured in GW capacity). Source:
Integrated Planning Model run by
EPA, 2011
FGD: flu gas desulfurization
(scrubber)
DSI: dry sorbent injection
SCR: selective catalytic reduction
ACI: activated carbon injection
FF: fabric filter
DSI – 70% SO2 removal; 90% HCl removal
ACI – 90% Hg removal
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Cost and Retirement Projections
Incremental Compliance Cost for the
Power Sector
►
Private compliance costs to utilities are distinct from
the overall social cost of the policy. The compliance
costs depicted are increased costs of operating the
electric generation system throughout the US.
►
Incremental retired coal capacity in 2015 is about 10
GW. Also, it is important to recognize:
►
EPA identified about 11 GW of firm retirements
announced for 2010-2015 that were removed
from modeling
►
EPA modeling suggests forecasted natural gas
prices alone close about 4 GW of coal-fired
capacity in 2015 in the base case, and Transport
Rule may close an additional 1 GW.
►
Toxics Rule and Transport Rule (as proposed)
together close 11 GW of coal in 2015.
►
Closures are distributed throughout the US.
Billions $2007
$15
$10.9
$10
$10.1
$10.0
$5
$0
2015
2020
2030
Incremental Retired Capacity in 2015
Capacity (GW)
15
10
2015 Capacity
(before retirements)
9.87
Total: 1,028 GW
Coal Steam & IGCC: 314 GW
5
0
-0.18
-5
Coal Steam
CC
-0.46
CT
-0.77
Nuclear
14
Average Consumer Electricity Price Projections
2015 Retail Electricity Price
Average National Retail Electricity Price
2007-year mills/kWh
100
90 93
Proposed Toxics Rule
89 92
102 104
50
160
Base
Proposed Toxics Rule
140
2007 mills/KWh
Base
150
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0
2015
2020
2030
National average increase of 3.7% in 2015 that
declines over time
2020 Retail Electricity Price
160
Base
Proposed Toxics Rule
2007 mills/KWh
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
15
Generation and Capacity Projections
Generation Mix
Million GWh
4
3
2
1
0
0.25
0.29
0.25
0.29
►
►
0.29
0.29
0.87
0.84
0.69
0.73
0.83
0.83
0.83
0.83
0.33
0.29
0.33
0.29
1.16
1.21
0.81
0.82
2.00
1.96
2.02
1.98
2.06
2.01
Base
Tox R
Base
Tox R
Base
Tox R
2020
2030
10
Natural Gas CC
Oil
Non-Hydro
Renewables
Hydro
Natural Gas
2015
►
0.29
0.29
Incremental New Capacity
Other
Nuclear
Coal
Capacity (GW)
5
Wind
8
Biomass
0.09
0.68
6
4
2
0
0.02
2015
0.08
0.02
2.77
7.40
2020
2030
Coal-fired generation is slightly reduced as a result of the proposed rule.
Increase in demand is met largely with additional natural gas-fired generation
IPM results suggest that the sector will be able to comply with the Toxics Rule while
relying primarily on existing generating assets
► Overcapacity at existing combined cycle units responds to displaced generation
in 2015
► An additional 8 GW of new capacity is projected by 2030 relative to the base
case, most of which is natural gas combined cycle.
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Impacts on Coal Consumption and Natural Gas
Power Sector Coal Use
Imports
1,200
Million Tons
600
400
Appalachia
Interior
38
154
153
240
252
553
599
567
Tox R
Base
Tox R
30
37
37
183
168
174
165
227
233
239
228
551
543
557
Base
Tox R
Base
•
West
38
30
1,000
800
Waste Coal
•
Coal use from major regions decreases slightly
from the proposed Toxics Rule. There is a slight
increase in use of interior coals in some years.
There is some increase in bituminous coal use
and decline in other coal types used.
942
200
0
Coal Use by Rank
25,000
Trillion Btu
Lignite
Subbituminous
Bituminous
20,000
904
609
1,059
651
718
657
15,000
7,762
7,668
7,984
7,885
8,599
8,073
11,450
11,628
11,297
11,547
11,440
11,703
•
•
10,000
5,000
•
0
2015 Base
2015 Tox R
2020 Base
2020 Tox R
2030 Base
2030 Tox R
Natural gas consumption is expected to increase
3-6 percent by the power sector from 2015-2030.
Over this time, “delivered” natural gas prices to the
power sector and at Henry Hub (wellhead) will
have an average increase less than 10 cents per
million Btus, about 1.3 percent.
Over this time, residential consumers would see
an average price increase of less than 1 percent .
17
Proposed Toxic Rule Health Benefits
•
The value of the improvements to health alone total $59 billion to $140 billion each
year
•
This means that for every dollar spent to reduce this pollution, we would get $5-$13
in health benefits
•
Each year, the proposed rule would prevent serious health effects including:
– 6,800-17,000 premature deaths
– 11,000 heart attacks
– 120,000 asthma attacks
– 850,000 missed work or “sick” days
•
Avoiding “sick days” saves companies and families money. It is particularly important
for the millions of Americans whose jobs do not provide paid sick leave and who risk
losing their jobs if they miss work too often
– The proposed rule would also prevent 12,200 hospital admissions and emergency
room visits; 4,500 cases of chronic bronchitis; and 5,100,000 days when people must
restrict their activities each year
Source: EPA Regulatory Impact Analysis
18
The Toxics Rule: Implementation
•
When we compare the investments that will be required to comply with these
standards with investments that this same industry has made in the past they do
not look out of line.
– In each of 2007 through 2010, over 20 GWs of advanced pollution control equipment was
installed. This includes a peak of over 35 GWs of scrubbers and SCRs in 2009.
•
The act contains key flexibilities such as providing permitting agencies the
discretion to provide one-year extensions (beyond the general three year timeframe for compliance required by the Act) that will be key to addressing any facilityspecific concerns.
•
While we project some retirements of old/inefficient and less frequently used coalfired generation, the large amounts of extra generating capacity that currently exist
will be key to being able to ensure reliable electricity (NERC default reserve margins
are 15%, absent the rule, average capacity margins are about 25%).
19
Public Hearings and Comment
• The public is encouraged to provide EPA with comments on this
proposed Toxics Rule
• The Agency will seek comments for 60 days following publication in the
Federal Register and the proposed rule is currently available on EPA’s
website.
• Public Hearings
• Locations
• Philadelphia, PA (EPA Region 3 Headquarters)
• Atlanta, GA (EPA Region 4 Headquarters)
• Chicago, IL (EPA Region 5 Headquarters)
• For more information on how to attend these public hearings, please visit:
http://www.epa.gov/airquality/powerplanttoxics
• Technical Contact:
• Bill Maxwell (919-541-5430, [email protected])
20
Summary – Bottom-Line
•
This proposed rule will result in tremendous public health benefits, worth many
times the cost.
•
The rule will require the power sector to invest in commercially available, cost
effective, proven technology. That investment will provide jobs for tens of
thousands of Americans during a period of high unemployment, create demand
for products like cement, that are experiencing low demand, and create a
modern clean American power sector.
•
This rule has been long delayed. It is important for public health, that the rule
we issue conform to the dictates of the Clean Air Act as interpreted by the courts
so that it will withstand a judicial challenge.
Thank you!
21