REPORT TO CONGRESS ON THE Required by Section 9 of P. L. 93-319, "Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974" Environmental Protection Agency I. Executive Summary A. Scope of Report This report is submitted to Congress in conformance with the requirements of Section 9 of the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 (ESECA) which requires that: "The Administrator of the Environmental Protection January 31, 1975, on the implementation of Sections 3 through 7 of this Act. 11 Another objective of this report is to fulfill the requirements of the two remaining subsections of Section 119(k) 91) of the Clean Air Act as amended by ESECA that were not covered in the report entitled, "Report to Congress on the Control of Sulfur Oxides, " which EPA submitted to Congress in February, 1975. Specifically, subsections 119(k)(1)(H) and 119(k)(1)(I) relate to the Environmental Protection Agency's steps to monitor the air quality impact of ESECA and its review of State Implementation Plans. "(H) plans for monitoring or requiring sources to which "(I) steps taken pursuant to authority of section 110(a)(3)(B) of this Act. B. Summary of Report The status of EPA's efforts to implement Sections 3 through 7 of ESECA is summarized below. 1. Section 3 Subject to compliance with air pollution requirements, Section 3 gives the Administrator of EPA the authority to grant temporary suspensions of applicable State emission limitations and to extend the effective date of compliance with such emission limitations. The air pollution criteria which apply to such actions are the primary standard condition, the regional limitation and the significant risk provision. The final requirement of Section 3 directs EPA to report to Congress on nine environmental/energy issues. As of March 31, 1975, EPA had not received any applications for compliance date extensions and only three power plants have applied to EPA for a temporary suspension of state emission limitations. EPA has given limited approval to the suspension request for all of these plants. -2 EPA has established primary standard conditions for the plants which have been granted temporary suspensions and has taken the following preparatory actions for certification of FEA prohibition orders from burning oil which will be issued in late spring after publication of the final Environmental Impact Statement. a. Preparation of a draft guidance document which delineates b. Analysis of alternative policies for implementing the significant risk provision (i. e., sulfates). c. Plant-by-plant analyses of the candidates identified by FEA d. Publication in the Federal Register of proposed regulations The above actions will enable EPA to specify air pollution requirements which will be protective of public health. Seven of the reporting requirements of Section 3, 119(k)(1) were covered in the report entitled, "Report to Congress on Control of Sulfur Oxides" that EPA submitted in working draft form to congressional staff offices in early January and officially transmitted to Congress in early February, 1975. The eighth requirement on monitoring requirements has been addressed by draft guidelines which establish stringent monitoring regulations for power plants which receive temporary suspensions on conversion orders. The final requirements, Section 3, 119(k)(1)(I), which relate to the review of State Implementation Plans will be discussed in Section 4. 2. Section 4 Section 4 directs the Administrator of EPA to review each State Implementation Plan (SIP) to determine if such plans can be revised without interfering with the attainment and maintenance of ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Section 4, however, does not require the states to change any SIP's. -3 EPA has been conducting a coordinated review of the SIP's with the Regional Offices. As of March 31, 1975, SIP reviews 3. Section 5 Section 5 of ESECA extends the effective date of the statutory standards for hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide from 1975 to 1977 and the effective date of the statutory standards for nitrogen oxides from 1975 to 1978. However, at any time after January 1, 1975, any manufacturer may request a one year suspension of the effective date of the statutory standards for carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. Since three corporations (Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors) requested a one year suspension of the effective date of the statutory standards for carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon, EPA began public hearings with these companies on January 21, 1975. On March 5, 1975, the Administrator suspended for one year the statutory emission standards for hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) which were due to go into effect in model year 1977 and set interim standards for 1977 at the current Federal interim level of 1. 5 grams per mile for HC and 15 grams per mile for CO. 4. Section 6 EPA does not have to take any further action with regard to the conforming amendments contained in section 6. 5. Section 7 Section 7 establishes the following requirements in order to assure the protection of public health: a. Any allocation program established pursuant to ESECA or the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act shall include measures to assure that low sulfur fuels will be distributed in a manner that minimizes the adverse impacts on public health. -4 b. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and in cooperation with EPA, shall conduct a study on the health effects of emissions of sulfur oxides resulting from coal conversion. c. Any coal conversion order that will be in effect less than one year will not be considered a major Federal action within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). With regard to the first of these requirements, FEA has issued regulations to implement its authority to allocate petroleum products under the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act. However, EPA has found that the current fuel supply situation does not warrant the specification of priority areas for low sulfur oil. If the fuel supply situation changes and/or FEA proposes regulations for the allocation of coal, EPA will determine whether such changes warrant the specification of priority areas for low sulfur fuels. As of January 31, 1975, Congress had not appropriated funds to initiate the health study authorized by ESECA. However, EPA and NIEHS are currently undertaking a joint study to gather further data on the health effects of increased emissions resulting from oil to coal conversions. Finally in order to comply with the NEPA requirements, FEA has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on the coal conversion program. Public hearings on the proposed regulations were held on February 26, 1975. C. Conclusions This report provides the most recent information available on the implementation status of Sections 3 through 7 of ESECA. The report shows that EPA has implemented the law according to congressional intent and has taken preparatory actions which will enable the Agency to respond in a timely manner to conversion orders which will be issued by FEA. |