Environment Filings and Resources

Various environmental issues – whether on climate, air, water, solid waste regulations, or permitting – affect the power sector. This page includes APPA’s comments and summaries on how regulations, rules, and other federal agency actions could affect public power operations.

Documents linked within each accordion below are organized by topic area and date, with the most recent filing/summary presented first within each category/rule.

Clean Air and Climate

New Source Performance Standards

Comments on the proposed new source performance standards for stationary combustion turbines (CT NSPS). The comments address the important role of combustion turbines (CT) in sustaining the grid. We urge the agency not to change the definition of “stationary source”, part-load operation should not be unduly constrained, and critique EPA’s cost estimate for post-combustion nitrogen oxide (NOx) controls. (April 2025)
Read our summary of the proposed rule to regulate NOx emissions from new, modified and reconstructed stationary CTs. The most significant proposed change would require most CTs that operate above a certain capacity factor (either 20% or 40%) to operate with selective catalytic reduction (member only access), (December 2024)

Greenhouse Gas Emission Regulations for the Power Sector

Read our summary of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit oral argument in West Virginia v. EPA et al., No. 24-1120 (member access only). The case challenges the final rule repealing the Affordable Clean Energy Rule and establishing new greenhouse gas emissions standards and guidelines for new and existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units. December 2024
We filed comments in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s federalism consultation on the forthcoming rules to regulate combustion turbines under sections 111(b), 112, and 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. October 2024
We filed comments on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired stationary combustion turbines. These comments also reflect the public power utilities' perspective on setting new source performance standards and national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants for stationary combustion turbines. May 2024
Read our summary and analysis of the final GHG rules for new stationary combustion turbines and existing coal-fired power plants. (member access only) March 2024
We filed comments on the supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking for the new source performance standards for GHG from new, modified, and reconstructed fossil fuel-fired electric generating units; guidelines for GHG emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units; and repeal of the affordable clean energy rule. December 2023
Comments on the proposed GHG rules for new, modified, reconstructed, and certain existing power plants under section 111 of the Clean Air Act. The proposed rules, if finalized, would impose stringent new source performance standards on power plants fueled by natural gas and impose strict limits on GHG emissions from existing fossil-fired generators. Specifically, EPA proposed to take five regulatory actions: update the NSPS for fossil-fuel-fired stationary combustion turbines; update the NSPS for GHG emissions from fossil-fuel-fired steam generating units that undertake large modifications; create emission guidelines for fossil fuel-fired steam generating EGUs’; create emission guidelines for GHG emissions from certain stationary combustion turbines and repealed the Affordable Clean Energy Rule. August 2023

Emissions Monitoring

Comments on the proposed revisions to the Air Emissions Reporting Requirements. November 2023

Air Toxic Standards

Emissions Transport

Joint APPA and NRECA comments on the Supplemental Air Plan Actions: Interstate Transport Air Pollution for the 2015 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards and Supplemental Federal “Good Neighbor Plan” Requirements for the 2015 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards. May 2024
Summary of EPA’s final rule, Federal Implementation Plan Addressing Regional Ozone Transport for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards. (member access only). The final rule seeks to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants and industrial sources that contribute to problems attaining and maintaining EPA’s 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in downwind states. March 2023
Comments on EPA’s proposed Federal Implementation Plan Addressing Regional Ozone Transport for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards. June 2021

Regional Haze

APPA’s comments on EPA’s pre-rulemaking related to amendments to the regional haze state plans detail several recommendations to enhance the Regional Haze Rule during the third planning period. June 2024

Issue Brief

Federal Efforts to Address Climate Change. February 2023.

Environmental Permitting

National Environmental Policy Act

Read our summary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, CO, (No. 23-975) (member only access) which reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s finding that the Surface Transportation Board’s environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was insufficient. This ruling reinforces that a NEPA review is only required to consider effects that are "proximately caused" by the agency action, rejecting broader arguments that the agency should consider all effects that would not occur "but for" the agency action. The ruling also reaffirms judicial deference and charts a streamlined path for NEPA reviews to be faster, more focused, and tied strictly to the direct environmental effects of the project at hand. May 2025
APPA joined a coalition of industry trade groups in filing comments on the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ’s) interim final rule to remove the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations. The joint comments generally express support for the administration’s recent efforts to streamline environmental reviews under NEPA and advocate for the use of predictability, efficiency, and transparency as guiding principles as new NEPA implementing procedures are developed. March 2025
Summary and analysis of Final Phase 2 NEPA Rule (member access only). July 2024
Comments on the NEPA Implementing Procedures for the Department of Energy, Categorical Exclusions. January 2024
Comments on the proposed NEPA Implementing Regulations Revisions Phase 2. September 2023
Joint comments on the Council of Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) NEPA Interim Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change. April 2023
Summary of the CEQ Final NEPA Phase 1 Rule (member access only). The final rule amends three provisions―(1) the factors to be considered in the purpose and need section of an environmental impact statement; (2) establishment of CEQ’s NEPA regulations as a floor for agency-specific NEPA regulations; (3) and the definition of “effects”―of the 2020 NEPA regulations. April 2022

Issue Brief

Streamlining Energy Infrastructure Permitting

Water

Clean Water Act

Read our summary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency (No.23-753) (member only access), holding that EPA lacks authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to set restrictions in water pollutant discharge permits that achieve an “end-result” for receiving waters. This decision will benefit National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permittees by strengthening the “permit shield” defense against allegations of noncompliance. March 2025
APPA’s comments provided recommendations on defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) in a manner consistent with the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA. The comments urged the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to ensure that any forthcoming new WOTUS definition should be durable, clarify that “adjacent” wetlands should be indistinguishable from other WOTUS, exclude most ditches, and retain the Waste Treatment System exclusion with certain revisions. April 2025
Summary of the final Clean Water Act Hazardous Substance Facility Response Plan rule (member access only). The rule sets new facility response plan requirements for worst-case discharges of Clean Water Act hazardous substances for onshore non-transportation-related facilities that, because of their location, could reasonably be expected to cause substantial harm to the environment by discharging into or on navigable waters, adjoining shorelines, or exclusive economic zone. August 2024
Summary of the final Water Quality Certification (WQC) rule under Clean Water Act section 401 (member access only). The 2024 final WQC rule clarifies and reinforces elements of the CWA section 401 certification practice, which applies to any project that may result in a discharge to the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) as they must obtain a federal license or permit through the certification process. November 2023

Wastewater Discharge

Comments on EPA’s proposed Supplemental Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generation Point Source Category. The final rule seeks to update wastewater discharge requirements for coal-fired power plants. May 2023

Waters of the United States

Summary of the Revised Definition of “Waters of the United States” Final Rule (member access only). This update to the rule seeks to create a durable and clear rule that is based on the pre-2015 WOTUS regime and the sum of EPA’s 1986/88 WOTUS regulations, Supreme Court precedent on the interpretation of WOTUS, and the Agencies’ guidance documents which implement those holdings. February 2023

Solid Waste

Spent Solar Panels and Lithium Batteries

APPA filed comments in response to EPA’s federalism consultation on a forthcoming rule on solar panels and lithium batteries as universal waste. APPA commented on the best management practices associated with end-of-life issues with spent solar photovoltaic panels and lithium batteries. August 2024
Petition for Rulemaking on Regulating Photovoltaic Solar Panels as Universal Waste in which APPA participated. This petition requested that the EPA adopt a universal waste management standard for solar photovoltaic panels. November 2021

Coal Combustion Residuals

Comments on the Notice of Data Availability in response to the proposed Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities; Legacy CCR Surface Impoundments. December 2023
Comments on the proposed Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities; Legacy CCR Surface Impoundments. July 2023

PCB

EPA granted APPA’s application to renew its existing risk-based disposal approvals for APPA regular members on April 12, 2023. The renewal allows APPA regular members to dispose of PCB remediation wastes generated at secure utility assets with as-found concentrations of less than 50 ppm PCBs in non-TSCA units, including municipal solid waste landfills. In 2017, APPA initially applied for and was granted approval for its regular members to dispose of PCB Remediation Waste generated at secure utility assets with as-found concentrations of < 50 ppm PCBs in non-TSCA approved disposal facilities; subsequently, the approval was updated as the membership changed. APPA members have appreciated and benefited from the cost savings resulting from the approval.

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