Greenhouse Gas Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants

On this page:

• Rule Summary
• Rule History
• Additional Resources

Rule Summary

EPA is proposing Clean Air Act emission limits and guidelines for carbon dioxide (CO₂) from fossil fuel-fired power plants based on cost-effective and available control technologies. 

The proposals would set limits for new gas-fired combustion turbines, existing coal, oil and gas-fired steam generating units, and certain existing gas-fired combustion turbines.

Consistent with EPA’s traditional approach to establishing pollution standards for power plants under section 111 of the Clean Air Act, the proposed standards are based on technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration/storage (CCS), low-GHG hydrogen co-firing, and natural gas co-firing, which can be applied directly to power plants that use fossil fuels to generate electricity.

As laid out in section 111 of the Clean Air Act, the proposed new source performance standards (NSPS) and emission guidelines reflect the application of the best system of emission reduction (BSER) that, taking into account costs, energy requirements, and other statutory factors, is adequately demonstrated for the purpose of improving the emissions performance of the covered electric generating units.

Rule History

5/23/2023 -  Proposed Rule:  New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units (EGUs); Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired EGUs

Additional Resources

Regulatory Impact Analysis

Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Proposed New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired EGUs; Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired EGUs (pdf) (8.92 MB)

Fact Sheets

Fact Sheet: Overview of Greenhouse Gas Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants Proposed Rule (pdf) (216.25 KB)

Fact Sheet for Communities with Environmental Justice Concerns - Greenhouse Gas Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants Proposed Rule (pdf) (182.78 KB)

Fact Sheet for Tribes - Greenhouse Gas Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants Proposed Rule (pdf) (187.99 KB)

Fact Sheet on State Plans - Greenhouse Gas Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants Proposed Rule (pdf) (193.57 KB)

Presentation

Overview Presentation: Clean Air Act Section 111 Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units (pdf) (287.98 KB)

Modeling

Power Sector Modeling

Proposed Regulatory Text

Regulatory Text - Proposed Emission Guidelines (pdf) (380.97 KB)

Regulatory Text - Proposed NSPS for Combustion Turbines (pdf) (360.87 KB)

Regulatory Text - Proposed NSPS for Fossil Fuel-fired Steam Generating Units (pdf) (396.4 KB)

Regulatory Text - Proposed ACE Repeal (pdf) (121.6 KB)

Technical Support Documents

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Measures - Carbon Capture and Storage for Combustion Turbines Technical Support Document (pdf) (1.08 MB)

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Measures for Steam Generating Units Technical Support Document (pdf) (1.23 MB)

Natural Gas- and Oil-fired Steam Generating Unit Technical Support Document (pdf) (299.32 KB)

Power Sector Trends Technical Support Document (pdf) (1.38 MB)

Resource Adequacy Analysis Technical Support Document (pdf) (359.88 KB)

Simple Cycle Stationary Combustion Turbine EGUs Technical Support Document (pdf) (702.56 KB)

Hydrogen in Combustion Turbine Electric Generating Units Technical Support Document (pdf) (765.69 KB)

Efficient Generation: Combustion Turbine Electric Generating Units Technical Support Document (pdf) (497.48 KB)