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On June 25, 2013, President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to work expeditiously to complete greenhouse gas (GHG) standards for the power sector. The agency is using its authority under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to issue emission guidelines to address GHG emissions from existing power plants. The Presidential Memorandum directs the EPA to issue proposed GHG guidelines for existing power plants by no later than June 1, 2014, and issue final guidelines by no later than June 1, 2015. In addition, the Presidential Memorandum directs the EPA to, in the guidelines, require states to submit to EPA the implementation plans required under section 111(d) of the CAA by no later than June 30, 2016. On June 18, 2014, the EPA proposed emission guidelines for states to follow in developing plans to address GHG emissions from existing fossil fired EGU, using its authority under CAA 111(d). This action is a supplemental proposal and will propose emission guidelines to address GHG emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired EGUs on tribal lands and in U.S. territories.

Statement of Need:

President Obama's Climate Action Plan called for EPA to complete carbon pollution standards for existing fossil fuel-fired power plants by June 1, 2015. This action will propose those standards for existing fossil fuel-fired power plants in Indian country and U.S. territories.

Summary of the Legal Basis:

CO2 is a regulated pollutant and thus is subject to regulation under section 111 of the Clean Air Act as Amended in 1990

Alternatives:

Alternatives will be presented in the proposal preamble.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

Cost and benefits information will be presented in the proposal preamble.

Risks:

The risk addressed is the current and future threat of climate change to public health and welfare, as demonstrated in the 2009 Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act. The EPA made this determination based primarily upon the recent, major assessments by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).