On September 20, 2013, US EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy signed a notice of a replacement proposed rule establishing standards of performance for greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from new fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating units (EGUs). A whopping 110 days later, on January 8, 2014, the re-proposed rule has finally made its way into the pages of the Federal Register triggering the rulemaking schedule and opening the public comment period.
Public comments are due on or before March 10, 2014. Comments to OMB are suggested to be submitted by February 7, 2014. The public hearing will be held on January 28, 2014 in Washington, D.C., from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm. US EPA also published a technical factsheet highlighting the new proposed requirements.
In re-proposing the rule, EPA is hitting the reset button on its first attempt to propose GHG standards for new EGUs. US EPA formally withdrew the April 13, 2012 proposal in a separate rulemaking and is proceeding instead with the re-proposed rule published on January 8. As a result, US EPA indicates that comments submitted on its original April 13, 2012 proposal — all 2.5 million of them — will not be considered in connection with this re-proposed rule. Accordingly, in addition to evaluating comments on new aspects of the proposed rule, interested parties should evaluate continued applicability of previously submitted comments and resubmit as appropriate.
