by Wallace McMullen
Ozark Chapter ExCom
Missouri’s Clean Air Commission held a hearing at a recent meeting in Jefferson City on a proposed State regulation to improve the air we breath.
This dates back to the lawsuit which the Ozark Chapter filed in November, 1998, asking that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classify St. Louis as a serious non_attainment area for air quality because its air quality is below the legal standard for its current classification. One result of this suit has the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) proposing a rule to limit emissions of nitrogen oxides from Missouri electric utilities. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are nasty air pollutants which contribute to smog and acid rain and are precursor chemicals to the formation of ozone. So the planned limitation of NOx emissions is arguably one of the beneficial consequences of our air quality suit, particularly for the St. Louis metropolitan area.
( For more background on activity by the DNR Air Pollution Control Program and the lawsuit, see “New Developments in Missouri's Air Pollution Regulations” .)
The new regulation will establish a limit of 0.25 lb. NOx emitted per million BTUs of heat input in the eastern third of Missouri, and a limit of 0.35 lb. NOx emitted per million BTUs for the western two thirds of the state. This differential is proposed because the current ozone air quality problems are occurring in the eastern part of the state. (Memphis area emissions are threatening problems in the bootheel area, as well as what is occurring in St. Louis). In the proposed statewide rule the major coal fired Missouri electric generating facilities would be permitted to emit approximately 43.8 thousand tons of NOx during the ozone season (assuming that fuel input remain constant at 1997 level). The proposed regulation also includes tradable allowances for electric generating facilities which emit less NOx than the limit during operation. Low emission plants like UE’s Rush Island will have some allowances to sell or trade. Even after the allowances are applied, Missouri electric generation utilities are expected to have to install emissions controls to reduce NOx emissions by at least 34 thousand tons as a result of the proposed rule.
For this regulation to be put in effect, it must go through the usual process for promulgating a state administrative regulation, plus being first approved by the Clean Air Commission. The Clean Air Commission holds a hearing on such regulations, and then votes on approval at the following meeting.
Clean Air Commission Hearing Testimony
I spoke as a representative of the Ozark Chapter at the hearing, making the point that reducing the NOx in the air, and thereby also reducing NOx depositions into water and on the ground, will be good public policy for all the citizens of Missouri. I also stated support for the plan which the DNR Air Pollution Control Program had developed for administering the system of NOx allowances.
Everyone else who testified was a utility representative. Their testimony broke into three general themes:
1. AmerenUE spoke in favor of the rule, stating that they wanted to help keep St. Louis out of the higher non_attainment classification, and that they think this rule will defend them from stricter regulations that EPA may impose. (AmerenUE is the big electric utility based in St. Louis that serves most of the state's residents east of Columbia.)
2. Several utilities on the western side of the state argued that the rule for the eastern part of the state was OK, but the 0.35 lb./mmbtu limitation on them was wrong. Their position was that this rule was only being imposed to make EPA happy with the St. Louis area problem, and they do not affect that problem. DNR’s air quality modeling indicates that they do contribute to the problem.
3. The lawyer representing UtiliCorp (d.b.a. “MoPub”) argued the regulation is unconstitutional, arbitrary and capricious, would violate the “no stricter than Federal” mandate of 643.055 RSMo, and violates the provisions of the Missouri Administrative Procedure Act. A member of the Commission commented that this testimony sounded like they had read off a brief for a court challenge of the rule.
It is unclear what impact the hearing testimony had on the decision of the Clean Air Commission. They voted to approve the proposed regulation on May 27, 2000.
We hope that the promulgation of this requirement to reduce emissions will have two positive effects: 1) The air in Missouri will become cleaner, and 2) the day when dirty, polluting coal fired electric generating plants are mothballed will come closer. That day can not come too soon. Even a clean coal fired facility like Rush Island puts out a LOT of pollution: over 7000 tons of NOx, and about 1200 tons of carbon monoxide in 1998. We need clean, renewable sources of electricity, such as solar and wind, and we need the big utilities to start employing them soon.