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On December 1, 2011, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) and EPA presented a united front in announcing the release of a DOE report, Resource Adequacy Implications of Forthcoming EPA Air Quality Regulations, which shows the EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (“CSAPR”) and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (“MATS”) will not affect grid reliability.

On October 24, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for a 30-day extension to complete the final emissions standards for the Maximum Achievable Control Technology (“MACT”) rule. Currently the EPA is operating under a 2009 consent decree with a November 16, 2011 deadline to issue a final rulemaking on standards for hazardous air pollutants from EGUs (see October 17, 2011 edition of the WER).

On October 20, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced a schedule to develop standards for wastewater discharges that are produced during natural gas extraction from underground coalbed and shale formations.  EPA will begin to develop a proposed set of national standards while working with stakeholders.  EPA’s announcement is part of its “Effluent Guidelines Program” which sets national standards for industrial wastewater discharges using best available technologies which are economically achievable.

On October 7, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) announced that it will hold a Commissioner-led Technical Conference to address the reliability of the Bulk-Power System and emerging issues, including reliability concerns which may arise in complying with Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) regulations, along with tools to address these issues.

On October 6, 2011, the EPA proposed what it is referring to as “technical adjustments” to the final Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (“CSAPR”).  According to the EPA, the adjustments are needed to correct errors made in certain unit specific modeling assumptions and to smooth the transition from the Clean Air Interstate Rule (“CAIR”) to CSAPR.  A summary of the proposed adjustments is as follows:

The House of Representatives on Friday passed H.R. 2401, the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act (“TRAIN Act”).  The Act establishes an interagency federal panel to assess the cumulative impact of various EPA regulations and requires that the panel issue its report by next August.  The bill prevents EPA from proceeding with its recently promulgated Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (“CSAPR”) and finalizing its proposed Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (“MATS”) rule.

Last week saw continued appeals filed of EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (“CSAPR”), as well as petitions to EPA to reconsider the rule.  The deadline for appeals is October 7, 2011.  Currently, the following parties have filed appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit:  EME Homer City Generation, L.P., Luminant Generation Company, LLC,  GenOn Energy, Inc., State of Kansas, State of Texas, States of Nebraska, Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas.  As of this writing, EME Homer City, Luminant and GenOn have asked the Court to stay the rule.  Other appeals and other motions for stays are expected.