CCP EPA & Clean Air Act Compliance 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under EPA's Clean Power Plan framework and its successor rules, which legal authority under the Clean Air Act does EPA use to regulate CO2 from existing power plants?
- Section 108 (criteria pollutants)
- Section 111(d) (existing source performance standards) (Correct answer)
- Section 112 (hazardous air pollutants)
- Section 129 (solid waste combustion)
Correct answer: Section 111(d) (existing source performance standards)
Section 111(d) allows EPA to direct states to establish performance standards for existing sources of pollutants not regulated under other CAA sections.
Question 2: A company's facility is located in a PM2.5 nonattainment area. Which Clean Air Act requirement most directly affects its ability to build a new major emission source?
- It must apply PSD increment limits
- It must obtain Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (LAER) and emission offsets (Correct answer)
- It must submit a Title V permit before purchasing equipment
- It must apply National Ambient Air Quality Standards directly
Correct answer: It must obtain Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (LAER) and emission offsets
In nonattainment areas, new major sources must achieve LAER (the most stringent technology) and provide offsets that exceed new emissions to ensure net air quality improvement.
Question 3: What is the role of State Implementation Plans (SIPs) under the Clean Air Act?
- Plans created by EPA to enforce standards in states lacking air agencies
- State-developed plans showing how they will attain and maintain NAAQS (Correct answer)
- Federal plans requiring states to adopt specific control technologies
- Annual reports filed by states on hazardous air pollutant reductions
Correct answer: State-developed plans showing how they will attain and maintain NAAQS
SIPs are state-developed plans, approved by EPA, that demonstrate how each state will achieve and maintain the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
Question 4: Under the CAA's mobile source provisions, EPA's Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards are jointly administered with which other agency?
- Department of Energy
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (Correct answer)
- Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
Correct answer: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
CAFE standards are jointly developed by EPA and NHTSA, with EPA setting GHG emission standards and NHTSA setting fuel economy standards for the same vehicles.
Question 5: What defines a 'criteria pollutant' under the Clean Air Act?
- Any pollutant listed under NESHAP Section 112
- A pollutant for which EPA has established NAAQS based on health and welfare criteria (Correct answer)
- A pollutant that triggers automatic enforcement upon detection
- Any greenhouse gas above the 25,000 mt CO2e reporting threshold
Correct answer: A pollutant for which EPA has established NAAQS based on health and welfare criteria
Criteria pollutants are those for which EPA has set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) based on health (primary) and welfare (secondary) criteria documents.
Question 6: California's unique authority to set its own vehicle emission standards stricter than federal standards stems from which provision?
- A permanent exemption written into the original 1970 CAA
- A waiver of federal preemption that EPA grants under CAA Section 209 (Correct answer)
- An executive order allowing western states to self-regulate
- A judicial ruling that federal preemption does not apply to ZEV mandates
Correct answer: A waiver of federal preemption that EPA grants under CAA Section 209
CAA Section 209(b) allows California to seek a waiver from EPA to enforce its own motor vehicle emission standards, which are often more stringent than federal standards.
Question 7: What does the term 'fugitive emissions' mean in the context of Clean Air Act permitting?
- Emissions that cross state lines without a permit
- Emissions that cannot reasonably pass through a stack or vent and are released directly to the atmosphere (Correct answer)
- Accidental releases classified as emergency exemptions
- Emissions from mobile sources operating on unpaved roads
Correct answer: Emissions that cannot reasonably pass through a stack or vent and are released directly to the atmosphere
Fugitive emissions are uncontrolled releases that escape through leaks, seams, or open surfaces rather than through a designed exhaust point like a stack or vent.
CCP EPA & Clean Air Act Compliance 3
Under EPA's Clean Power Plan framework and its successor rules, which legal authority under the Clean Air Act does EPA use to regulate CO2 from existing power plants?