Washington University School of Law Required by Clean Air Act Set - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Maxine Lipeles, Director Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic Washington University School of Law

 Required by Clean Air Act  Set by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  Must protect public health  Reviewed every 5 years  Apply to pollutants with nationwide, health-

based concerns:

• Carbon monoxide

Ozone

• Lead

Particulate matter

• Nitrogen oxides

Su Sulf lfur ur dioxide xide

 Revised in 2010 to protect public health  Short-term, 1-hour standard  Health concerns:

• “Short-term exposures to SO2 can harm the

human respiratory system and make breathing difficult.” EPA

 Children, elderly, and asthmatics most at risk  SO2  fine particle pollution

• Heart disease, lung disease, premature death

 Scrubbers – Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD)  Most effective pollution control for SO2  Can reduce SO2 emissions by 98-99%  Available since 1970s  Capital costs reduced >30% since early 1990s  “Wet scrubbers are the most widely used FGD

technology for SO2 control throughout the world.”

• International Energy Agency

 Scrubbers on 1 of Ameren’s 4 coal

plants in Metro St. Louis

• Sioux plant in W. Alton
• Started late 2010; >98% Less Pollution

 75% of US coal plant capacity has

scrubbers

 19% of Ameren’s coal capacity has

scrubbers

 14th-largest coal-fired power plant in

US

 3rd-largest source of SO2 pollution in

US so far in 2016

 Largest power plant in US without SO2

controls

 More premature deaths than any other

coal plant w/o scrubbers

 Ameren has told state regulators it expects to

install scrubbers at Labadie

• Labadie landfill permit application -> DNR

 “A new flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system is scheduled to be built at the plant in the future.”

• Integrated Resource Plan –> Public Service

Commission

 No firm commitment  Ameren working hard to avoid installing

scrubbers at Labadie

 Revised SO2 standard triggered EPA’s 3-

year deadline for “nonattainment” designations.

• Area meeting standard = attainment
• Area exceeding standard = nonattainment
• Insufficient info = unclassifiable
• delays making attainment or nonattainment

designation

 EPA missed 3-year designation deadline for

most of the country

 Two-step process for remaining

designations

• Largest plants (inc. Labadie): July 2016
• All others – over the next several years

 Designations  Clean-up plans (“state

implementation plans” or SIPs)

• Limits on existing emitters to bring nonattainment

areas into compliance

• If Labadie area “nonattainment,” SIP might require

scrubbers to ensure area meets SO2 standard

 DNR recommended unclassifiable (Sept 2015)

• Even though DNR and Ameren modeling, using

approved EPA modeling protocols, showed nonattainment

 EPA proposed nonattainment (Feb 2016)

• Based on DNR modeling

 EPA final decision unclassifiable (July 2016)

• Rejected new modeling from all parties

Source: EPA Technical Analysis for Franklin County, MO

 Unclassifiable  modeling or monitoring to

make attainment or nonattainment designation

 Ameren and DNR chose monitoring  EPA requires monitors to be located where

maximum concentrations are expected (use modeling to determine peak areas)

 Ameren set up two monitors in April 2015  DNR approved sites without doing modeling

to see whether or not they were in peak areas

 EPA: Ameren monitors not in peak areas  EPA, DNR, Ameren in discussions  Outcome?