You asked for a description of legislative efforts to tighten emission standards for older fossil fuel power plants. Specifically, you wanted to know when the standards would have gone into effect and how they would have differed from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulatory standards adopted pursuant to Executive Order 19. This report only discusses proposals that were considered by one or both chambers; there were several other proposals that were drafted during the negotiations on these bills.

SUMMARY

The DEP regulations adopted in December 2000 pursuant to Executive Order 19 require six power plants (Bridgeport Harbor, Devon, Middletown, Montville, New Haven Harbor, and Norwalk Harbor) to reduce their emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. The regulations set a standard of 0. 15 pounds per million British Thermal Units (lb/mmBTU) for nitrogen oxides emissions as of January 1, 2003. (The standard also applies to certain other large stationary sources of air pollution. ) The regulations set two standards for sulfur dioxide emissions. The first, which went into effect on January 1, 2002, is 0. 5 lb/mmBTU. The second is 0. 3 lb/mmBTU, effective January 1, 2003. Plants owners must meet the first stage of the sulfur dioxide standard through on-site measures, such as burning cleaner fuel or installing pollution control equipment. They can meet the nitrogen oxides standard and the difference between the first and second stage of the sulfur dioxide standards by on-site measures or trading emission credits under existing programs.

Legislation has been introduced every year since 1998 to tighten emission standards for the power plants. Legislation was introduced in 1998 and 1999 to extend the emission standards that apply to plants built after 1977 to older plants. Since the new plant standards would have varied by plant, they are not directly comparable to the standards imposed under the regulations. The 1998 proposal, which would have gone into effect on January 1, 2000, was withdrawn by its sponsor. In 1999, the House adopted the proposal, which would have gone into effect on January 1, 2003, but it died in the Energy and Technology Committee, to which it had been referred.

Legislation introduced in subsequent years would have imposed emission standards that were similar to those imposed under the regulations. The principal difference between these bills and the regulations was the extent to which trading would be allowed as a means of complying with the standards. In 2000, legislation was introduced to require plants to meet the nitrogen oxides and 0. 3% sulfur dioxide standards subsequently established in the regulations, starting January 1, 2003. The version of the bill passed by the House eliminated trading as a compliance option as of December 31, 2005, although it allowed a one-year extension of the deadline under specified circumstances. The Senate version permitted trading for an indefinite period of time.

The 2001 and 2002 bills only dealt with sulfur dioxide emissions. The 2001 bill would have eliminated the use of trading as of December 31, 2004, but would have allowed DEP to suspend the stage two standards in order to maintain the reliability of the state's electric supply. This year's bill restricts the use of trading starting January 1, 2005. It allows trading only to respond to shortages of low-sulfur fuel or threats to the reliability of the state's electric supply.

1998

In 1998, House amendment "P" was proposed to the bill restructuring the electric industry (PA 98-28), to extend the air emission standards that apply to power plants built after 1977 to older plants. The tighter standards would have applied as of January 1, 2000. The amendment was withdrawn after a brief debate.

1999

In 1999, a similar proposal was introduced as a House amendment to sHB 6103, "An Act Concerning Emissions Testing at Seage Sldge Incinerators". The original version of the amendment would have required the plants to comply with the stricter standards by January 1, 2001. The amendment's primary sponsor withdrew this version and introduced a version that required compliance by January 1, 2003. The House passed the amendment and referred it to the Energy and Technology Committee, which took no action on it.

2000

sHB 5583, "An Act Minimizing Air Emissions at Power Plants", would have required the power plants, beginning January 1, 2003, to emit no more than 0. 15 lb/mmBTU of nitrogen oxides on a year-round basis. Under then current law, the plants had to meet this standard from May to September, starting May 1, 2003. The bill would have established an emission rate limit for sulfur oxides of 0. 3 lb/mmBTU; under the law at that time the standard was 1. 2 lb/mmBTU.

The bill was amended by House "A" and Senate "A" and "B. " OLR memo 2000-R-0556 compares the various versions of the bill and Executive Order 19. House "A" would have allowed DEP to delay the effective date of the standards by up to two years. Senate "A" had the same provision, but was superseded by Senate "B" which did not. Senate "A" did not permit trading while House "A" and Senate "B" did. The latter two versions also required plants that choose to meet the emission reduction requirements by trading to achieve additional reductions from local sources.

Under House "A", the trading option would have ended December 31, 2005. DEP could have extended this deadline to December 31, 2006 based on a determination by the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) that there was an imminent threat of lack of generation capacity in the state. Under Senate "B", the trading option would have been in force unless and until the Environmental Protection Agency approved a state implementation plan with more stringent standards than those contained in the bill. The governor issued Executive Order 19 after the chambers were unable to come to consensus on this bill.

2001

sHB 6365, "An Act Concerning Clean Air Standards for Certain Power Plants", would have eliminated emissions credit trading as a compliance option for the plants meeting the regulation's stage two sulfur dioxide standards as of December 31, 2004. (Unlike the previous bills, sHB 6365 did not address nitrogen oxides. ) But the bill would have added another compliance option based on the total amount of emissions produced by a plant, rather than its emissions rate.

The bill would have allowed the governor to temporarily suspend the stage two standards if there was a shortfall in the state's electricity supply. The bill appeared to supersede a provision in the regulations that allows the DEP commissioner to temporarily suspend the standards for a plant that normally meets them by burning low sulfur fuel if he finds that there is a shortage in the supply of such fuel.

The bill also included several provisions, including a tax exemption on low sulfur oil, to reduce the costs of complying with its requirements. On the other hand, it would have barred owners of units that have violated the regulation's sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide standards more than once from bidding for default electric service. By law, the state's electric utilities must bid out the supply of electricity for this service, which provides power, after January 1, 2004, to people who do not choose a competitive supplier. The bill also included several measures to promote renewable energy resources.

The bill was subsequently amended to (1) modify the circumstances under which the stage two standards could be suspended and lengthened the maximum initial suspension period from seven to 30 days, (2) modify the tonnage cap provisions, and (3) limit the tax exemption to fuel sold for use in the plants, among other things. The amended bill passed both chambers (PA 01-107), but was vetoed by the governor.

2002

This year's bill (sHB 5209, as amended by House "A"), "An Act Concerning Reducing Sulfur Dioxide Emissions at Power Plants", is similar to last year's bill. It requires the plants to meet the stage two sulfur dioxide standard using on-site measures starting January 1, 2005. It modifies the standard slightly to specifically address plants that burn solid fuel, e. g. , coal. It also has a somewhat different provision that allows the use of trading to maintain the reliability of the electric power system.

Unlike last year's bill, this year's bill includes a provision allowing the DEP commissioner to temporarily suspend the stage two standards if there is a shortage of low-sulfur fuel. The bill allows trading to meet the stage two standards if the commissioner orders plant's owner to engage in trading to make up for excess emissions due to a suspension of the standards. The owner still must meet the stage one standards through on-site measures. The bill is currently on the Senate calendar.

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