V&E Climate Change Report - Special Issue: EPA's Proposed Greenhouse Gas ESPS
On June 18, 2014, the EPA published a proposal in the Federal Register to create greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for existing power plants under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (the existing source performance standards or ESPS). In setting the performance standards under the proposed rule, the EPA has for the first time required “beyond-the-fenceline” reductions, meaning that the GHG emission rate targets set in the rule cannot be met through installation of additional controls at affected power plants alone. This first-of-its-kind proposal will no doubt generate a significant volume of comments and subsequent litigation to determine whether the broad view of utility regulation EPA seems to adopt in its proposal reaches beyond the scope of the Agency’s legal authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA). This special issue of the Climate Change Report is devoted to EPA’s proposed ESPS and its potential consequences for the energy industry.
To access your copy of the special issue, follow this link. Features in this issue:
- Summary
- Here Be Dragons: Legal Threats to the ESPS Proposal
- EPA Proposal Effectively Directs States to Compel Reduced Operating Hours of Coal Fired Generators in Order to Lower CO 2 Emissions
- Building Blocks Towards a Coal-to-Gas Value Shift
- EPA Proposal Likely to Lead to Additional Renewable Energy Development in Certain States
- Can the Clean Power Plan Set the Stage for an International Climate Change Agreement?
- Can the Clean Power Plan Set the Stage for an International Climate Change Agreement?, V&E Climate Change Report, September 2014, Issue 22 (co-author)
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For more information, please contact V&E lawyers Eric Groten, Ben Lippard, Larry Nettles, or Margaret Peloso. Visit our website to learn more about V&E’s Climate Change practice or e-mail one of the practice contacts.
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This information is provided by Vinson & Elkins LLP for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended, nor should it be construed, as legal advice.