PFPI-BiomassIsTheNewCoal-April-2-2014

Bioenergy emissions of criteria pollutants and CO 2 : Clean Air ActloopholesBeyond the inherently polluting nature of biomass power, key loopholes in the Clean Air Act allowbiomass plants to be less regulated than coal and gas plants. Some of these loopholes are baked into the Clean Air Act, while others are the result of recent regulatory and policy decisions by EPA.Our overview first examines loopholes affecting emissions of criteria pollutants; in the second partof the report, we discuss loopholes for emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and loopholesthat allow contaminated wastes to be reclassified as “non-waste fuel products” that can be burned inbiomass plants.Loophole 1: Biomass plants can emit more pollution before triggering federalpermittingOne of the most significant loopholes for bioenergy in the Clean Air Act is the triggering thresholdfor consideration as a “major source” for criteria pollutants. Whereas new fossil fuel plants areconsidered to be a major source that triggers PSD permitting if they emit more than 100 tons of acriteria pollutant per year, bioenergy plants escape PSD unless they emit at least 250 tons of acriteria pollutant per year. 27 As we demonstratebelow, biomass plants that avoid PSDpermitting are allowed to emit about twice asmuch pollution as plants that go through PSD,and lack other protections afforded by the PSDprogram. Compared to coal plants and naturalUnder the Clean Air Act, biomasspower plants are allowed to emit 250%the pollution of a coal plant before moreprotective permitting is triggered.gas plants that are required to go through PSD if they emit 100 tons of a pollutant, biomass powerplants that avoid PSD are very lightly regulated, even though the types of pollution emitted, andconsequent health effects, are the same. As all but five of the 88 facilities for which we havepermits in our database would emit more than 100 tons of a criteria pollutant, it appears that thissingle loophole, which is a relic of Clean Air Act implementation decisions made in the 1970’s, isresponsible for nearly doubling the amount of pollution that the emerging bioenergy industry isallowed to emit. The Clean Air Act allows the EPA Administrator to add new industries to the listof sources where the 100 ton threshold triggers PSD permitting. Given the current growth in thebioenergy industry and its potential to pollute, adding biomass power plants to that list wouldrepresent sound public policy.Loophole 2: EPA’s free pass for bioenergy CO 2 lets large power plants avoidregulationThe tendency for bioenergy facilities to avoid PSD permitting has been exacerbated and enabled byEPA’s decision to exempt bioenergy CO 2 from regulation under the Clean Air Act. Initially, when27 PSD is also triggered for both new plants and existing plants undergoing “major modifications,” when those modificationswould cause emissions to increase by more than a certain amount. The triggering thresholds for existing facilities are the samefor biomass and fossil-fueled plants.22