The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a settlement with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to resolve alleged Clean Air Act violations at 11 of its coal-fired plants in Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The settlement will require TVA to invest an estimated $3 to $5 billion on new and upgraded state-of-the-art pollution controls. TVA also will invest $350 million on clean energy projects that will reduce pollution, save energy and protect public health and the environment.
Once fully implemented, the pollution controls and other required actions will address 92 percent of TVA's coal-fired power plant capacity, reducing emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) by 69 percent and sulfur dioxide (SO2) by 67 percent from TVA's 2008 emissions levels. The settlement will also significantly reduce particulate matter and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In a call today discussing this settlement, Administrator Jackson noted air contaminant reductions would include 30 million tons of CO2, 96,000 tons of SO2, 25,000 tons of NOx and 800 pounds of mercury.
A total of $60 million will be shared by Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee enabling these states to implement clean energy projects from a list of categories on the consent decree. TVA will spend $290 million to perform the following projects:
$240 million as part of the Energy Efficiency Projects that are designed to increase efficiency in transmission and demand-side supply to displace utilization of coal-fired electricity generation.
$40 million to reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants through the Clean/Renewable Energy Projects. These projects include: waste heat recovery, electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid electric charging stations, solar photovoltaic (PV) installations, and landfill or waste treatment methane gas capture and generation.
$8 million for a Clean Diesel Retrofit and Electric Vehicle Project that requires TVA to either retrofit in-service, public diesel engines with emission control equipment designed to reduce emissions of NOx and volatile organic compounds or to replace such vehicles with electric or hybrid-electric vehicles.
$1 million each to the National Park Service and the National Forest Service to improve, protect, or rehabilitate park and forest lands that have been injured by emissions from TVA's plants, including Mammoth Cove National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Park Service) and Cohutta Wilderness Area, Linville Gorge Wilderness Area, Shining Rock Wilderness Area, Sipsey Wilderness Area, and Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness Area (Forest Service).
In addition, TVA will pay a total of $10 million in civil penalties. TVA will pay $8 million to EPA, $1 million to Tennessee, and $500,000 each to Alabama and Kentucky. EPA is collecting the $8 million penalty through a consent agreement and final order.
In today's call, Administrator Jackson praised TVA for its decision to modernize its fleet with the proposed transition to more natural gas use and the resulting air pollution mitigation benefits. She also recognized the positive impacts on local communities of the energy efficiency projects agreed upon by TVA.
TVA is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. TVA operates a total of fifty-nine coal-fired boilers at eleven plants in Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The total coal-fired system capacity is around 17,407 megawatts. TVA also operates nuclear, natural gas and hydroelectric plants. TVA's service territory includes Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
TVA provides wholesale power to 155 municipal and cooperative power distributors and direct service to 56 large industrial and government customers, thereby supplying power to about nine million people across its 80,000 square mile territory. TVA does not receive any public tax dollars.
This settlement resolves all past preconstruction violations as well as alleged violations of the New Source Performance Standards program and Title V of the CAA as of the date Federal Facilities Compliance Agreement (Compliance Agreement) is signed by both EPA and TVA.
This is the 22nd Clean Air Act New Source Review settlement in the coal-fired power plants sector. Reducing air pollution from the largest sources of emissions, including coal-fired power plants, is one of EPA's National Enforcement Initiatives for 2011-2013.
EPA is accepting public comments on this agreement for a 30-day period from the date notice of the agreement is published in the Federal Register.
More information on this settlement: http:/www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/caa/tvacoal-fired.html.