DEQ Comments on the EPA's proposed 'ACE' Rule

The US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, revising the guidelines for greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. After careful review, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) has requested the EPA abandon the proposed rule-making, and replace it with a rule that achieves meaningful emission reductions.  In comments submitted to the EPA this week, DEQ outlines key concerns with this proposal.

Among those concerns, the ACE rule is an inadequate response to climate change and runs counter to state and regional efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change. North Carolina has made great progress in reducing the emissions from the electricity-generating sector. The proposed ACE rule would limit potential system-wide emissions reductions and provide no guarantee of any actual emissions reductions.  The EPA’s own modeling suggests there would be increases in emissions of carbon dioxide and criteria pollutants under the proposed ACE rule.  NCDEQ is unable to support an environmental protection rule that is projected to have the opposite of its intended effect in North Carolina. 

Read the full comment letter here:

NCDEQ's Comments on USEPA's "Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Existing Electric Utility Generating Units; Revisions to Emission Guideline Implementing Regulations; Revisions to New Source Review Program" Proposed Rule, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0355 (October 31, 2018)