Editor’s Note: This op-ed is by Deborah Markowitz, secretary of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources.
On July 6, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule that will significantly improve air quality by reducing power plant emissions that cross state lines. This rule will protect the health of millions of Americans by helping states reduce air pollution and meet the standards of the Clean Air Act.
The EPA’s new rule, known as the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), requires 27 states to significantly improve air quality by reducing power plant emissions of sulfer dioxide and nitrogen oxides that cross state lines and contribute to ozone and fine particulate pollution in other states.
This is great news for Vermont.
It is a little known fact that Vermont is close to being out of compliance with the requirements of the federal clean air laws. This is not the result of pollution generated in Vermont, but it because air knows no geographical boundaries. This new rule will make a difference for Vermont’s air quality because it requires power plants in other states to install readily-available air pollution controls to reduce emissions that are transported into Vermont. By reducing ozone and fine particle pollution, EPA’s new rule will protect the health of Vermonters, saving lives and preventing illnesses. In addition to avoiding premature deaths and respiratory-related illnesses, the pollution reductions from EPA’s rule will also lead to improvements in visibility in Vermont, and increased protection for sensitive ecosystems, such as mountain lakes and forests.
Since the 1990s, regional strategies have successfully reduced interstate air pollution transport. EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule builds upon this earlier success and will continue the trend of improving air quality for our state. To speed implementation, EPA is adopting federal implementation plans, or FIPs, for each of the states covered by this rule. EPA encourages states to replace these FIPs with state implementation plans, or SIPs, starting as early as 2013.
For more information about the rule, visit the EPA’s website.
Here is some information on the new Cross-State Air Pollution Rule from the EPA:
Emission reductions
Compared to 2005, EPA estimates that by 2014 this rule and other federal rules will lower power plant annual emissions in the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule region by:
- 6.4 million tons per year of SO2 (2005 emissions were 8.8 million tons)
- 1.4 million tons per year of NOX (2005 emissions were 2.6 million tons) including 340,000 tons per year of NOX during the ozone season.
The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, including states proposed for inclusion in the supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking, covers 3,642 electric generating units at 1,081 coal-, gas-, and oil-fired facilities in 28 states. EPA’s modeling projects that by 2014, in the states covered by the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule:
- Approximately 70 percent of the power generated from coal-fired power plants will come from units with state-of-the-art SO2 controls (such as scrubbers).
- Approximately 50 percent of the power generated from coal-fired power plants will come from units with state of the art NOX controls (such as SCR).
EPA modeling shows that coal use will continue to grow under the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and power plants may achieve the necessary emission reductions by:
- Maintaining effective and frequent operation of already installed control equipment,
- Using low sulfur coal,
- Increasing generation from relatively cleaner units, and/or
- Installing existing, commercially proven technologies that are widely available and frequently used in this industry, such as low NOX burners, scrubbers (flue gas desulfurization), or dry sorbent injection.
Air quality improvements
The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule will improve air quality in thousands of counties throughout the eastern, central, and southern U.S. – counties that are home to over 75 percent of the U.S. population. State, local and federal actions have already improved air quality so that many counties meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone and fine particle pollution. Many areas have already been brought into attainment with these standards, this rule will help to bring several more areas into attainment and help many more areas continue to meet the level of the standards.
Benefits and costs
The emission reductions from this final rule will have significant and immediate public health benefits. By 2014, this rule will annually prevent:
- 13,000 to 34,000 premature deaths,
- 19,000 cases of acute bronchitis,
- 15,000 nonfatal heart attacks,
- 19,000 hospital and emergency room visits,
- 1.8 million days when people miss work or school,
- 400,000 cases of aggravated asthma, and
- 420,000 cases of upper and lower respiratory symptoms.
These emission reductions will also improve visibility in national and state parks, and increase protection for sensitive ecosystems including Adirondack lakes and Appalachian streams, coastal waters and estuaries, and forests.
The $800 million spent annually on this rule in 2014, along with the roughly $1.6 billion per year in capital investments already under way as a result of CAIR, are improving air quality for over 240 million Americans and will result in $120 to $280 billion in annual benefits. These estimates include the costs and benefits of the supplemental proposal.
The employment effects of this rule are modest, but by our analysis positive. EPA examined some employment impacts using two methodologies which are detailed in the RIA. Both show that some jobs are lost, but more are gained as some companies construct and operate pollution control equipment to comply with the rule.
