New gas-fired power plants would face tougher nitrogen oxides standards under a proposal issued by the Environmental Protection Agency Friday, in the last days of the Biden administration.
“The proposal would ensure that new turbines built at power plants or industrial facilities — especially large ones that could operate for decades — would be among the most efficient and lowest-emitting turbines ever built,” the EPA said. “The proposal provides regulatory certainty for the power sector, while supporting the continued delivery of reliable and affordable electricity.”
NOx contributes to asthma, respiratory infections and other health problems and reacts with other volatile organic compounds to form ozone and fine particulate matter, according to the EPA.
The EPA last set new source performance standards for stationary combustion turbines in 2006. The agency’s proposal was driven by a consent decree resulting from a 2022 suit brought by the Environmental Defense Fund and Sierra Club. The consent decree required the EPA to propose updating the NOx standards for new power plants this month and to take final action by November 2025.
The Sierra Club urged the incoming Trump administration to adopt the proposed standard. “Sierra Club will vigorously oppose any attempt to weaken these safeguards, and will consider all options — including litigation — if the final standards do not adequately protect the health and wellbeing of our families and communities,” the environmental group said Friday.
When President-elect Donald Trump earlier this month selected former Rep. Lee Zeldin to run the EPA, he said the Republican from New York would “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions.”
The agency said its proposed revision is based on the use of combustion controls and selective catalytic reduction, a “cost-reasonable” and widely used add-on control technology that limits NOx emissions.
Smaller facilities and ones that operate less often would face standards that don’t require SCR. The less-restrictive standard would apply to units that operate at a 20% or lower capacity factor and to combustion turbines under 25 MW that operate at capacity factors below 40%.
The proposed NOx standards would affect facilities that begin construction, reconstruction or modification after the standards are published in the Federal Register, according to the EPA.
EPA estimates its proposal would cut NOx emissions by 198 tons in 2027 and 2,659 tons in 2032, providing net benefits of up to $340 million. The proposed standard estimates the rule will cost $166 million to implement from 2025 through 2032.
The EPA is proposing to keep its existing standards for sulfur dioxide, which it said is “well controlled.”
Comments on the proposal are due 90 days after it is published in the Federal Register.
