WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is setting tougher standards for deadly soot pollution, saying that reducing fine particle matter from tailpipes, smokestacks and other industrial sources could prevent thousands of premature deaths a year.

Environmental and public health groups hailed the new Environmental Protection Agency rule finalized Feb. 7 as a major step in improving the health of Americans, including future generations. Industry groups warned it could lead to the loss of manufacturing jobs and even shut down power plants or refineries. Business groups and Republican-leaning states are likely to challenge the rule in court.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the rule would have $46 billion in net health benefits by 2032, including prevention of up to 800,000 asthma attacks and 4,500 premature deaths. He said the rule will especially benefit children, older adults and those with heart and lung conditions, as well as people in low-income and minority communities adversely affected by decades of industrial pollution.

The rule “really does represent what the Biden-Harris administration is all about, which is understanding that healthy people equal a healthy economy,” he told reporters Feb. 6. “We do not have to sacrifice people to have a prosperous and booming economy.”

The rule sets maximum levels of 9 micrograms of fine particle pollution per cubic meter of air, down from 12 micrograms established a decade ago under the Obama administration.

The rule sets an air quality level that states and counties must achieve in the coming years to reduce pollution from power plants, vehicles, industrial sites and wildfires. The rule comes as Democratic President Joe Biden seeks reelection, and some Democrats have warned that a tough soot standard could harm his chances in key industrial states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Administration officials brushed aside those concerns, saying the industry has used technical improvements to meet previous soot standards and can adapt to meet the new standard as well. Soot pollution has declined by 42% since 2000, even as the U.S. gross domestic product has increased by 52%, Regan said.

“So we’ve heard this argument before, but the facts are well-established that these standards really will increase the quality of life for so many people, especially those who are disproportionately impacted,” he said.

Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, said the EPA was “putting public health first by requiring polluters to cut soot from the air we all breathe.”
Ben Jealous, executive director of the Sierra Club, said that opponents’ “resistance is a stark reminder that the fight for clean air and a healthier future is far from over.”

The new rule does not impose pollution controls on specific industries; instead, it lowers the annual standard for fine particulate matter for overall air quality. The EPA will use air sampling to identify counties and other areas that do not meet the new standard. States would then have 18 months to develop compliance plans for those areas. States that do not meet the new standard by 2032 could face penalties, although EPA said it expects that 99% of U.S. counties will be able to meet the revised annual standard by 2032.

Industry groups and Republican officials dispute that and say a limit of 9 micrograms per cubic meter could sharply increase the number of U.S. counties in violation of the soot standard. Companies in those places would have difficulty obtaining permits to build or expand industrial plants.

The American Forest and Paper Association called the new rule “unworkable” and said it undermines Biden’s promise to increase manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

“We are very concerned that many of the modernization projects in the paper and wood products industry and across U.S. manufacturing will no longer be able to move forward,” said Heidi Brock, the group’s president and CEO.

The paper lobby was among 71 industry groups that warned the White House in a letter that a lower soot standard could force companies to locate new facilities in foreign countries with weaker air-quality standards, thereby undermining Biden’s economic and environmental goals.

The standard for particle pollution, more commonly known as soot, was set in late 2012 under Democratic President Barack Obama and left unchanged by Republican President Donald Trump, who overrode a scientific recommendation for a lower standard in his final days in office.

EPA scientists have estimated exposure at current limits causes the early deaths of thousands of Americans annually from heart disease and lung cancer, along with other health problems.

The new EPA rule would require states, counties and tribal governments to meet a stricter air quality standard for fine particulate matter up to 2.5 microns in diameter — far smaller than the diameter of a human hair. The standard would not force polluters to shut down, but the EPA and state regulators could use it as the basis for other rules that target pollution from specific sources such as diesel-fueled trucks, refineries and power plants.

EPA said it will work with states, counties and tribes to account for and respond to wildfires, an increasing source of soot pollution, especially in the West. “EPA recognizes the increasing challenges and human health impacts that wildland fire and smoke pose in communities all around the country,” the agency said in a fact sheet.

EPA allows states and air agencies to request exemptions from air-quality standards due to “exceptional events,” including wildfires and prescribed fires.

A 2023 report by the American Lung Association found that nearly 64 million Americans live in counties that experience unhealthy daily spikes in soot pollution and nearly 19 million live in counties that exceed annual limits for soot pollution. Most of those counties were in 11 Western states, the report said. People of color were 61% more likely than white people to live in a county with unhealthy air quality, the report said.

Bakersfield, California, tied with Visalia in the state’s San Joaquin Valley as the most polluted city for year-round particle pollution. Six of the 10 cities with the most soot pollution were in California, and two more were in the West: Medford, Oregon and greater Phoenix.

2023’s Release of New Regulations was the first Mega Session held at POWERGEN. Regulations highlighted in the 90-minute panel included New Source Performance Standards, the Good Neighbor Rule, Effluent Limitation Guidelines, Coal Combustion Residuals and others.

But a majority of the time was spent talking about proposed carbon emission standards for coal-fired plants and new and existing natural gas-fired plants. The technology-based standards, proposed by EPA in May 2023, lean on hydrogen co-firing and carbon capture and sequestration (CCUS) as strategies for decarbonizing these plants.

Nick Hutson, Energy Strategies Group Lead at EPA and one of the Mega Session panelists, said the agency has heard from various groups and stakeholders during the comment period leading up to the final rule being issued.

The comment period ended December 20, with a finalized rule expected in the Spring.

As we’ve reported, the power industry is fractured over EPA’s proposal. Some utility trade groups say the proposal should not be finalized, while others say improvements are needed. Still other utilities have thrown their support behind it. Opposition to the rule often comes with concerns that its implementation would jeopardize reliability.

While emissions reduction is EPA’s primary objective, Hutson said the agency always wants to “make sure that we’re not adding to the problem unnecessarily.”

“We always do modeling to evaluate what is the projected outcome of our policies,” he said.

As the rule is currently proposed, any coal-fired power plant intending to operate past 2040 would have to install a CCS system that captures 90% of its CO2 emissions by 2030. Any large, frequently operating natural gas-fired power plant would have to either install a 90% capture CCS system by 2035 or operate nearly entirely on clean hydrogen by 2038.

Generators that can’t meet the new standards would be forced to retire.

Jordan Flanagan spoke on the panel representing the Institute of Clean Air Companies (ICAC), a trade association representing technology, equipment and service providers in the power sector.

She said the proposed EPA rules offer both opportunities and challenges for ICAC members.

“Our members have a lot of proven technologies that are available right now to deploy commercially,” said Flanagan, Policy and Programs Associate for ICAC. “But they’re also seeing lots of opportunities and challenges for some of the newer concepts posed by the greenhouse gas power plant rule. There’s a lot of uncertainty around it.”

David Triplett, Sr. Mgr. Environmental Policy & Sustainability at Entergy, offered a utility’s perspective on the proposed rules.

He said while the rules are only proposed and are subject to change before being finalized, they are “important additional inputs” that utilities need to factor into their generation planning processes.

“Our sector really is at an inflection point in terms of change with how we’re meeting resource adequacy requirements,” said Triplett.

Entergy is already taking an “all of the above” approach to resource planning, with a goal of 50% carbon reductions from its fleet by 2030 and to be completely net-zero by 2050.

Triplett said Entergy has signed memorandums of understanding with “a number of partners” to include all potential technologies.

“We’re investigating every possible path to find the one that’s going to be most cost effective and effective feasible for our fleet to get to [net-zero],” he said.

Triplett was asked about what he expects to be the most significant challenges in complying with the proposed power plant emission rules.

“With the with the hydrogen and CCS aspects, there’s significant infrastructure that needs to be built out to support those technologies at our generating facilities that doesn’t exist today or exist in a limited extent,” he said.

Triplett added the caveat that if it does happen, “it will happen here first,” speaking on the existing pipelines in the Gulf Coast region.

Regarding other potential compliance considerations, Triplett noted the importance of timing. With multiple proposed power sector regulations expected to be finalized in 2024, he said thoughtful alignment of compliance requirements is critical to ensuring effective utility resource planning, integration of new generation and continued reliable operation of existing generation resources.

For example, Entergy plans to exit coal by 2030, yet coal compliance dates from the EPA come both before and after Entergy’s anticipated coal retirements.

“Our hope is as EPA takes action to finalize these rules, these various dates will become into closer alignment,” said Triplett. “From our perspective, we don’t want to have to dedicate additional capital to units that are going to deactivate in the near to medium term that could otherwise be deployed more productively for new generation.”

DOE recently conducted a 1,680-mile round-trip journey from Colorado to Idaho to conclude testing, with the possibility of operational approval before year-end. The trip began September 5, with Atlas accompanied by a rail escort vehicle, two buffer railcars and two Union Pacific Railroad locomotives.

Atlas, the two buffer railcars and the rail escort vehicle are poised for operational use upon analysis and documentation of the final testing data and conditional approval from the AAR Equipment Engineering Committee.

The Atlas railcar is a 12-axle vehicle built to meet the stringent safety standards established by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

During its final test, Atlas simulated a full-scale shipment of spent nuclear fuel, employing steel test weights instead of radioactive materials. It carried a maximum test load of 480,000 pounds, mimicking the heaviest transport container certified by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Over the last 40 years, thousands of shipments of commercially generated spent nuclear fuel have been made throughout the United States without causing any radiological releases to the environment or harm to the public.

Most of these shipments occur between different reactors owned by the same utility to share storage space for spent fuel, or they may be shipped to a research facility to perform tests on the spent fuel itself. In the near future, because of a potential high-level waste repository being built, the number of these shipments by road and rail is expected to increase.

Dr. Patrick R. Schwab, DOE’s Atlas railcar project manager, said the achievement equips the Department with the capability to effectively transport spent nuclear fuel to future DOE storage and disposal facilities, playing a pivotal role in nuclear waste management.

The entire 10-year Atlas railcar project cost approximately $33 million.

DOE intends to employ Atlas and other railcars for emergency responder training and informational roadshows before initiating shipments of spent nuclear fuel to a federal consolidated interim storage facility.

The Department is actively involved in a consent-based siting process to identify one or more such storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel.

In June federal energy regulators announced that they were spending $26 million to find communities willing to accept a temporary federal site to store spent nuclear fuel while a permanent repository is completed.

The effort is being conducted with the aim of creating a federal storage site independent of the two private sites proposed for southern New Mexico and Texas, which are embroiled in heated political and legal battles.

The lack of a permanent disposal site has created a dilemma for the federal government as it seeks a temporary hub to move the spent fuel piling up at 70 nuclear power plants in three dozen states.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that $750 million is now available to fund research, development and demonstration efforts aimed at bringing down the cost of clean hydrogen.

The federal allocation – from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) – is the first half of a total of $1.5 billion in funding dedicated to advancing electrolysis technologies and improving manufacturing and recycling capabilities.

The Biden Administration believes this funding will help accelerate commercial-scale hydrogen deployment this decade. The Administration’s goal is a 100% clean electrical grid by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.  

Multiple studies have derived deep decarbonization pathways by integrating large amounts of hydrogen into many sectors of the economy. However, these studies generally require large amounts of new capital expenditures and a significant reworking of the energy and transportation sectors to achieve their goals.

MORE: When it comes to hydrogen, we’re probably overestimating NOx emissions. Here’s why.

The $1.2 trillion IIJA, signed into law in November 2021, includes several hydrogen-specific provisions aimed at driving large-scale deployment and investment in the hydrogen industry.

The bill includes the creation of large-scale clean hydrogen hubs, funding for clean hydrogen electrolysis research and development and efforts to promote clean hydrogen manufacturing and recycling. Additionally, the bill directed the federal government to develop the country’s first national hydrogen roadmap and strategy.

Through the regional clean hydrogen hubs, tax incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other ongoing research, development and demonstration efforts, the current DOE has a goal of being able to produce $1 per kilogram of clean hydrogen within a decade.    

Funded in part by the 2021 infrastructure law, the funding aims to advance new renewable energy technologies, make it easier for customers and communities to more effectively integrate grid storage, boost grid resilience, and expand U.S. leadership in energy storage. 

DOE said that existing energy storage technologies “are not sufficiently scaled or affordable” to support the broad use of renewable energy on the electric power grid. 

The LDES effort aims to cut the cost of grid-scale energy storage by 90% for systems that deliver 10+ hours of duration within the decade.

DOE said that cheaper and more efficient storage will make it easier to capture and store renewable clean energy for use when energy generation is unavailable or lower than demand – for instance, so renewable sources generated during the daytime like solar-generated power can be used at night or nuclear energy generated during times of low demand can be used when demand increases. 

DOE said that the LDES will consider all types of technologies, including electrochemical, mechanical, thermal, chemical carriers, or any combination that has the potential to meet duration and cost targets for grid flexibility.

The LDES Demonstrations Program will be managed by DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and will fund up to 11 demonstration projects. DOE said it will fund up to 50% of the cost of each project.

The program aims to fund projects that will overcome existing technical and institutional barriers for full-scale deployment of LDES systems by focusing on different technology types for a diverse set of regions.  

Letters of Intent are due by December 15, and full applications are due by March 3. Additional funding opportunities may follow both to validate and accelerate commercialization of LDES technologies. More information is available here.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) chose X-energy’s TRISO-X fuel fabrication facility to produce fuel for future advanced nuclear reactors and small modular reactors (SMR).

TRISO-X becomes the nation’s first high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel fabrication facility. HALEU is enriched between 5% and 20% and is required for most U.S. advanced reactors to achieve smaller designs that get more power per unit of volume. HALEU also is expected to allow developers to optimize their systems for longer life cores, increased efficiencies and better fuel utilization.

The industry anticipates it may need nearly 600 metric tons of HALEU by 2030 in order to deploy new reactors to the market. DOE is supporting the fuel development effort under its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), which aims to speed the demonstration of advanced reactors through cost-shared partnerships with the U.S. nuclear industry.

The design and license application development of X-energy’s fuel fabrication facility was previously supported through $18 million in federal dollars awarded to X-energy in 2018.

The facility, to be commissioned at the Horizon Center Industrial Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, will initially provide the TRISO fuel for X-energy's Xe-100 high-temperature gas reactor. Site preparation and construction will start this year with possible startup as early as 2025.

The DOE said the facility has the capacity to produce eight metric tons per year of TRISO pebble fuel, enough to power 12 of X-energy's proposed Xe-100 SMRs. The facility woukd also be capable of manufacturing TRISO fuel for other advanced reactor designs. X-energy said it plans to double its fuel production by the 2030s.

TRISO is a uranium oxycarbide tri-structural isotropic fuel form first developed in Germany decades ago. Compared with traditional reactor fuels, TRISO fuels are structurally more resistant to neutron irradiation, corrosion, oxidation, and high temperatures due to the application of multiple layers of silicon and carbide coatings cannot melt in the reactor. Proponents also believe such facilities could be built quicker and less expensively than traditional models.

This is the latest DOE effort to advance nuclear technologies including advanced reactor designs, and TRISO fuel and HALEU research and testing.

DOE has provided more than $200 million to support development of TRISO fuel with a specific focus on enhancing its safety performance and manufacturing methods to further develop the capabilities of advanced high-temperature gas reactors.

In 2020, the DOE announced X-energy as one of two awardees through the ARDP. That funding helped advance the development of the Xe-100.