[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 240 (Tuesday, December 15, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 77591-77592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31461]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 97

[FRL-9940-10-OAR]


Allocations of Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Allowances From New 
Unit Set-Asides for 2015 Control Periods

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of data availability (NODA).

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice 
of the availability of preliminary lists of units eligible for 
allocations of emission allowances under the Cross-State Air Pollution 
Rule (CSAPR). Under the CSAPR federal implementation plans (FIPs), 
portions of each covered state's annual emissions budgets for each of 
the four CSAPR emissions trading programs are reserved for allocation 
to electricity generating units that commenced commercial operation on 
or after January 1, 2010 (new units) and certain other units not 
otherwise obtaining allowance allocations under the FIPs. The 
quantities of allowances allocated to eligible units from each new unit 
set-aside (NUSA) under the FIPs are calculated in an annual one- or 
two-round allocation process. EPA previously completed the first round 
of NUSA allowance allocations for the 2015 control periods for all four 
CSAPR trading programs, as well as the second round of allocations for 
the CSAPR NOX Ozone Season Trading Program, and is now 
making available preliminary lists of units eligible for allocations in 
the second round of the NUSA allocation process for the CSAPR 
NOX Annual, SO2 Group 1, and SO2 Group 
2 Trading Programs. EPA has posted spreadsheets containing the 
preliminary lists on EPA's Web site. EPA will consider timely 
objections to the lists of eligible units contained in the spreadsheets 
and will promulgate a notice responding to any such objections no later 
than February 15, 2016, the deadline for recording the second-round 
allocations of CSAPR NOX Annual, SO2 Group 1, and 
SO2 Group 2 allowances in sources' compliance accounts. This 
notice of availability may concern CSAPR-affected units in the 
following states: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, 
Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New 
Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, 
Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

DATES: Objections to the information referenced in this notice of 
availability must be received on or before January 14, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit your objections via email to [email protected]. 
Include ``2015 NUSA allocations'' in the email subject line and include 
your name, title, affiliation, address, phone number, and email address 
in the body of the email.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning this action 
should be addressed to Robert Miller at (202) 343-9077 or 
[email protected] or Kenon Smith at (202) 343-9164 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the CSAPR FIPs, the mechanisms by 
which initial allocations of emission allowances are determined differ 
for ``existing'' and ``new'' units. For ``existing'' units--that is, 
units commencing commercial operation before January 1, 2010--the 
specific amounts of CSAPR FIP allowance allocations for all control 
periods have been established through rulemaking. EPA has announced the 
availability of spreadsheets showing the CSAPR FIP allowance 
allocations to existing units in previous notices.\1\
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    \1\ The latest spreadsheet of CSAPR FIP allowance allocations to 
existing units, updated in 2014 to reflect changes to CSAPR's 
implementation schedule but with allocation amounts unchanged since 
June 2012, is available at http://www.epa.gov/crossstaterule/actions.html. See Availability of Data on Allocations of Cross-State 
Air Pollution Rule Allowances to Existing Electricity Generating 
Units, 79 FR 71674 (December 3, 2014).
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    ``New'' units--that is, units commencing commercial operation on or 
after January 1, 2010--as well as certain older units that would not 
otherwise obtain FIP allowance allocations do not have pre-established 
allowance allocations. Instead, the CSAPR FIPs reserve a portion of 
each state's total annual emissions budget for each CSAPR emissions 
trading program as a new unit set-aside (NUSA) \2\ and establish an 
annual process for allocating NUSA allowances to eligible units. States 
with Indian country within their borders have separate Indian country 
NUSAs. The annual process for allocating allowances from the NUSAs and 
Indian country NUSAs to eligible units is set forth in the CSAPR 
regulations at 40 CFR 97.411(b) and 97.412 (NOX Annual 
Trading Program), 97.511(b) and 97.512 (NOX Ozone Season 
Trading Program), 97.611(b) and 97.612 (SO2 Group 1 Trading 
Program), and 97.711(b) and 97.712 (SO2 Group 2 Trading 
Program). Each NUSA allowance allocation process involves up to two 
rounds of allocations to new units followed by the allocation to 
existing units of any allowances not allocated to new units. EPA 
provides public notice at certain points in the process.
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    \2\ The NUSA amounts range from two percent to eight percent of 
the respective state budgets. The variation in percentages reflects 
differences among states in the quantities of emission allowances 
projected to be required by known new units at the time the budgets 
were set or amended.

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[[Page 77592]]

    EPA has already completed the first round of allocations of 2015 
NUSA allowances for all four CSAPR trading programs, as well as the 
second round of 2015 NUSA allocations to units subject to the CSAPR 
Ozone Season Trading Program, as announced in notices previously 
published in the Federal Register.\3\ The first and second-round NUSA 
allocation process was discussed in those previous notices. This notice 
of availability concerns the second round of NUSA allowance allocations 
for the CSAPR NOX Annual, SO2 Group 1, and 
SO2 Group 2 Trading Programs for the 2015 control period.\4\
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    \3\ 80 FR 30988 (June 1, 2015); 80 FR 44882 (July 28, 2015); 80 
FR 55061 (September 14, 2015); 80 FR 69883 (November 12, 2015).
    \4\ At this time, EPA is not aware of any unit eligible for a 
second-round allocation from any Indian country NUSA.
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    The units eligible to receive second-round NUSA allocations for the 
CSAPR NOX Annual, SO2 Group 1, and SO2 
Group 2 Trading Programs are defined in Sec. Sec.  97.411(b)(1)(iii) 
and 97.412(a)(9)(i), 97.611(b)(1)(iii) and 97.612(a)(9)(i), and 
97.711(b)(1)(iii) and 97.712(a)(9)(i), respectively. Generally, 
eligible units include any CSAPR-affected unit that commenced 
commercial operation between January 1 of the year before the control 
period in question and November 30 of the year of the control period in 
question. In the case of the 2015 control period, an eligible unit 
therefore must have commenced commercial operation between January 1, 
2014 and November 30, 2015 (inclusive).
    The total quantity of allowances to be allocated through the 2015 
NUSA allowance allocation process for each state and emissions trading 
program--in the two rounds of the allocation process combined--is 
generally the state's 2015 emissions budget less the sum of (1) the 
total of the 2015 CSAPR FIP allowance allocations to existing units and 
(2) the amount of the 2015 Indian country NUSA, if any.\5\ The amounts 
of CSAPR NOX Annual, SO2 Group 1, and 
SO2 Group 2 NUSA allowances may be increased in certain 
circumstances as set forth in Sec. Sec.  97.412(a)(2), 97.612(a)(2), 
and 97.712(a)(2), respectively.
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    \5\ The quantities of allowances to be allocated through the 
NUSA allowance allocation process may differ slightly from the NUSA 
amounts set forth in Sec. Sec.  97.410(a), 97.510(a), 97.610(a), and 
97.710(a) because of rounding in the spreadsheet of CSAPR FIP 
allowance allocations to existing units.
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    Second-round NUSA allocations for a given state, trading program, 
and control period are made only if the NUSA contains allowances after 
completion of the first-round allocations.
    The amounts of second-round allocations of CSAPR NOX 
Annual, SO2 Group 1, and SO2 Group 2 allowances 
to eligible new units from each NUSA are calculated according to the 
procedures set forth in Sec. Sec.  97.412(a)(9), (10) and (12), 
97.612(a)(9), (10), and (12), and 97.712(a)(9), (10), and (12), 
respectively. Generally, the procedures call for each eligible unit to 
receive a second-round 2015 NUSA allocation equal to the positive 
difference, if any, between its emissions during the 2015 annual 
control periods (i.e., January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015) as 
reported under 40 CFR part 75 and any first-round allocation the unit 
received, unless the total of such allocations to all eligible units 
would exceed the amount of allowances in the NUSA, in which case the 
allocations are reduced on a pro-rata basis.
    Any allowances remaining in the CSAPR NOX Annual, 
SO2 Group 1, or SO2 Group 2 NUSA for a given 
state and control period after the second round of NUSA allocations to 
new units will be allocated to the existing units in the state 
according to the procedures set forth in Sec. Sec.  97.412(a)(10) and 
(12), 97.612(a)(10) and (12), and 97.712(a)(10) and (12), respectively.
    EPA notes that an allocation or lack of allocation of allowances to 
a given EGU does not constitute a determination that CSAPR does or does 
not apply to the EGU. EPA also notes that allocations are subject to 
potential correction if a unit to which NUSA allowances have been 
allocated for a given control period is not actually an affected unit 
as of the start of that control period.\6\
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    \6\ See 40 CFR 97.411(c), 97.611(c), and 97.711(c).
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    The preliminary lists of units eligible for second-round 2015 NUSA 
allowance allocations for the three CSAPR annual trading programs are 
set forth in Excel spreadsheets titled 
``CSAPR_NUSA_2015_NOx_Annual_2nd_Round_Prelim_Data,'' 
``CSAPR_NUSA_2015_SO2_Group_1_2nd_Round_Prelim_Data,'' and 
``CSAPR_NUSA_2015_SO2_Group_2_2nd_Round_Prelim_Data'' 
available on EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/crossstaterule/actions.html. Each spreadsheet contains a separate worksheet for each 
state covered by that program showing each unit preliminarily 
identified as eligible for a second-round NUSA allocation.
    Each state worksheet also contains a summary showing (1) the 
quantity of allowances initially available in that state's 2015 NUSA, 
(2) the sum of the 2015 NUSA allowance allocations that were made in 
the first-round to new units in that state (if any), and (3) the 
quantity of allowances in the 2015 NUSA available for distribution in 
second-round allocations to new units (or ultimately for allocation to 
existing units).
    Objections should be strictly limited to whether EPA has correctly 
identified the new units eligible for second-round 2015 NUSA 
allocations of CSAPR NOX Annual, SO2 Group 1, and 
SO2 Group 2 allowances according to the criteria described 
above and should be emailed to the address identified in ADDRESSES. 
Objections must include: (1) Precise identification of the specific 
data the commenter believes are inaccurate, (2) new proposed data upon 
which the commenter believes EPA should rely instead, and (3) the 
reasons why EPA should rely on the commenter's proposed data and not 
the data referenced in this notice of availability.

    Authority:  40 CFR 97.411(b), 97.611(b), and 97.711(b).

    Dated: December 7, 2015.
Reid P. Harvey,
Director, Clean Air Markets Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs, 
Office of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 2015-31461 Filed 12-14-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P