Managing the analysis of air quality impacts under NEPA
- Department of Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
- Energetics Inc., Columbia, MD (United States)
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) mandates the analysis and evaluation of potential impacts of major Federal actions having the potential to affect the environment. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 identify an array of new air quality issues appropriate for analysis in compliance with NEPA. An example is emissions of the 189 hazardous air pollutants identified in Title III. The utility industry estimates that more than 2.4 billion pounds of toxic pollutants were emitted to the atmosphere in 1988, with the potential for resultant adverse health impacts such as cancer, reproductive effects, birth defects, and respiratory illness. The US Department of Energy (DOE) provides Federal funds for projects that utilize coal as the primary fuel, including the approximately 45 projects funded over the past ten years under the Clean Coal Technology Demonstration Program. Provision of Federal funds brings these projects under NEPA review. While electric steam generating units greater than 25 MW are currently excluded from regulatory review for the 189 air toxics listed in Title III, they are not, due to their potential impacts, excluded from NEPA review when Federally funded, in whole or in part. The authors will discuss their experiences drawn from NEPA evaluations of coal-fired power projects, the differences between regulatory requirements and NEPA requirements, source categories, major and area sources, conformity, maximum achievable control technology, mandatory licensing, radionuclides, visibility, toxics found to be emitted from coal combustion, public involvement, citizen suits, the bounty system, and how NEPA review can result in beneficial changes to proposed projects through mitigation measures to avoid or minimize potentially adverse environmental impacts.
- OSTI ID:
- 257203
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950952-; TRN: IM9631%%409
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 12. annual international Pittsburgh coal conference, Pittsburgh, PA (United States), 11-15 Sep 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Twelfth annual international Pittsburgh coal conference: Proceedings. Coal -- Energy and the environment; PB: 1248 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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