42 U.S.C. § 7651a : US Code - Section 7651A: Definitions

Search 42 U.S.C. § 7651a : US Code - Section 7651A: Definitions

As used in this subchapter:
(1) The term "affected source" means a source that includes one
or more affected units.
(2) The term "affected unit" means a unit that is subject to
emission reduction requirements or limitations under this
subchapter.
(3) The term "allowance" means an authorization, allocated to
an affected unit by the Administrator under this subchapter, to
emit, during or after a specified calendar year, one ton of
sulfur dioxide.
(4) The term "baseline" means the annual quantity of fossil
fuel consumed by an affected unit, measured in millions of
British Thermal Units ("mmBtu's"), calculated as follows:
(A) For each utility unit that was in commercial operation
prior to January 1, 1985, the baseline shall be the annual
average quantity of mmBtu's consumed in fuel during calendar
years 1985, 1986, and 1987, as recorded by the Department of
Energy pursuant to Form 767. For any utility unit for which
such form was not filed, the baseline shall be the level
specified for such unit in the 1985 National Acid Precipitation
Assessment Program (NAPAP) Emissions Inventory, Version 2,
National Utility Reference File (NURF) or in a corrected data
base as established by the Administrator pursuant to paragraph
(3). For nonutility units, the baseline is the NAPAP Emissions
Inventory, Version 2. The Administrator, in the Administrator's
sole discretion, may exclude periods during which a unit is
shutdown for a continuous period of four calendar months or
longer, and make appropriate adjustments under this paragraph.
Upon petition of the owner or operator of any unit, the
Administrator may make appropriate baseline adjustments for
accidents that caused prolonged outages.
(B) For any other nonutility unit that is not included in the
NAPAP Emissions Inventory, Version 2, or a corrected data base
as established by the Administrator pursuant to paragraph (3),
the baseline shall be the annual average quantity, in mmBtu
consumed in fuel by that unit, as calculated pursuant to a
method which the administrator shall prescribe by regulation to
be promulgated not later than eighteen months after November
15, 1990.
(C) The Administrator shall, upon application or on his own
motion, by December 31, 1991, supplement data needed in support
of this subchapter and correct any factual errors in data from
which affected Phase II units' baselines or actual 1985
emission rates have been calculated. Corrected data shall be
used for purposes of issuing allowances under the (!1)
subchapter. Such corrections shall not be subject to judicial
review, nor shall the failure of the Administrator to correct
an alleged factual error in such reports be subject to judicial
review.
(5) The term "capacity factor" means the ratio between the
actual electric output from a unit and the potential electric
output from that unit.
(6) The term "compliance plan" means, for purposes of the
requirements of this subchapter, either -
(A) a statement that the source will comply with all
applicable requirements under this subchapter, or
(B) where applicable, a schedule and description of the
method or methods for compliance and certification by the owner
or operator that the source is in compliance with the
requirements of this subchapter.
(7) The term "continuous emission monitoring system" (CEMS)
means the equipment as required by section 7651k of this title,
used to sample, analyze, measure, and provide on a continuous
basis a permanent record of emissions and flow (expressed in
pounds per million British thermal units (lbs/mmBtu), pounds per
hour (lbs/hr) or such other form as the Administrator may
prescribe by regulations under section 7651k of this title).
(8) The term "existing unit" means a unit (including units
subject to section 7411 of this title) that commenced commercial
operation before November 15, 1990. Any unit that commenced
commercial operation before November 15, 1990, which is modified,
reconstructed, or repowered after November 15, 1990, shall
continue to be an existing unit for the purposes of this
subchapter. For the purposes of this subchapter, existing units
shall not include simple combustion turbines, or units which
serve a generator with a nameplate capacity of 25MWe or less.
(9) The term "generator" means a device that produces
electricity and which is reported as a generating unit pursuant
to Department of Energy Form 860.
(10) The term "new unit" means a unit that commences commercial
operation on or after November 15, 1990.
(11) The term "permitting authority" means the Administrator,
or the State or local air pollution control agency, with an
approved permitting program under part B (!2) of title III of the
Act.
(12) The term "repowering" means replacement of an existing
coal-fired boiler with one of the following clean coal
technologies: atmospheric or pressurized fluidized bed
combustion, integrated gasification combined cycle,
magnetohydrodynamics, direct and indirect coal-fired turbines,
integrated gasification fuel cells, or as determined by the
Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, a
derivative of one or more of these technologies, and any other
technology capable of controlling multiple combustion emissions
simultaneously with improved boiler or generation efficiency and
with significantly greater waste reduction relative to the
performance of technology in widespread commercial use as of
November 15, 1990. Notwithstanding the provisions of section
7651h(a) of this title, for the purpose of this subchapter, the
term "repowering" shall also include any oil and/or gas-fired
unit which has been awarded clean coal technology demonstration
funding as of January 1, 1991, by the Department of Energy.
(13) The term "reserve" means any bank of allowances
established by the Administrator under this subchapter.
(14) The term "State" means one of the 48 contiguous States and
the District of Columbia.
(15) The term "unit" means a fossil fuel-fired combustion
device.
(16) The term "actual 1985 emission rate", for electric utility
units means the annual sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides emission
rate in pounds per million Btu as reported in the NAPAP Emissions
Inventory, Version 2, National Utility Reference File. For
nonutility units, the term "actual 1985 emission rate" means the
annual sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides emission rate in pounds
per million Btu as reported in the NAPAP Emission Inventory,
Version 2.
(17)(A) The term "utility unit" means -
(i) a unit that serves a generator in any State that produces
electricity for sale, or
(ii) a unit that, during 1985, served a generator in any
State that produced electricity for sale.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a unit described in
subparagraph (A) that -
(i) was in commercial operation during 1985, but
(ii) did not, during 1985, serve a generator in any State
that produced electricity for sale shall not be a utility unit
for purposes of this subchapter.
(C) A unit that cogenerates steam and electricity is not a
"utility unit" for purposes of this subchapter unless the unit is
constructed for the purpose of supplying, or commences
construction after November 15, 1990, and supplies, more than one-
third of its potential electric output capacity and more than 25
megawatts electrical output to any utility power distribution
system for sale.
(18) The term "allowable 1985 emissions rate" means a federally
enforceable emissions limitation for sulfur dioxide or oxides of
nitrogen, applicable to the unit in 1985 or the limitation
applicable in such other subsequent year as determined by the
Administrator if such a limitation for 1985 does not exist. Where
the emissions limitation for a unit is not expressed in pounds of
emissions per million Btu, or the averaging period of that
emissions limitation is not expressed on an annual basis, the
Administrator shall calculate the annual equivalent of that
emissions limitation in pounds per million Btu to establish the
allowable 1985 emissions rate.
(19) The term "qualifying phase I technology" means a
technological system of continuous emission reduction which
achieves a 90 percent reduction in emissions of sulfur dioxide
from the emissions that would have resulted from the use of fuels
which were not subject to treatment prior to combustion.
(20) The term "alternative method of compliance" means a method
of compliance in accordance with one or more of the following
authorities:
(A) a substitution plan submitted and approved in accordance
with subsections (!3) 7651c(b) and (c) of this title;
(B) a Phase I extension plan approved by the Administrator
under section 7651c(d) of this title, using qualifying phase I
technology as determined by the Administrator in accordance
with that section; or
(C) repowering with a qualifying clean coal technology under
section 7651h of this title.
(21) The term "commenced" as applied to construction of any new
electric utility unit means that an owner or operator has
undertaken a continuous program of construction or that an owner
or operator has entered into a contractual obligation to
undertake and complete, within a reasonable time, a continuous
program of construction.
(22) The term "commenced commercial operation" means to have
begun to generate electricity for sale.
(23) The term "construction" means fabrication, erection, or
installation of an affected unit.
(24) The term "industrial source" means a unit that does not
serve a generator that produces electricity, a "nonutility unit"
as defined in this section, or a process source as defined in
section 7651i(e) (!4) of this title.
(25) The term "nonutility unit" means a unit other than a
utility unit.
(26) The term "designated representative" means a responsible
person or official authorized by the owner or operator of a unit
to represent the owner or operator in matters pertaining to the
holding, transfer, or disposition of allowances allocated to a
unit, and the submission of and compliance with permits, permit
applications, and compliance plans for the unit.
(27) The term "life-of-the-unit, firm power contractual
arrangement" means a unit participation power sales agreement
under which a utility or industrial customer reserves, or is
entitled to receive, a specified amount or percentage of capacity
and associated energy generated by a specified generating unit
(or units) and pays its proportional amount of such unit's total
costs, pursuant to a contract either -
(A) for the life of the unit;
(B) for a cumulative term of no less than 30 years, including
contracts that permit an election for early termination; or
(C) for a period equal to or greater than 25 years or 70
percent of the economic useful life of the unit determined as
of the time the unit was built, with option rights to purchase
or re-lease some portion of the capacity and associated energy
generated by the unit (or units) at the end of the period.
(28) The term "basic Phase II allowance allocations" means:
(A) For calendar years 2000 through 2009 inclusive,
allocations of allowances made by the Administrator pursuant to
section 7651b of this title and subsections (b)(1), (3), and
(4); (c)(1), (2), (3), and (5); (d)(1), (2), (4), and (5); (e);
(f); (g)(1), (2), (3), (4), and (5); (h)(1); (i) and (j) of
section 7651d of this title.
(B) For each calendar year beginning in 2010, allocations of
allowances made by the Administrator pursuant to section 7651b
of this title and subsections (b)(1), (3), and (4); (c)(1),
(2), (3), and (5); (d)(1), (2), (4) and (5); (e); (f); (g)(1),
(2), (3), (4), and (5); (h)(1) and (3); (i) and (j) of section
7651d of this title.
(29) The term "Phase II bonus allowance allocations" means, for
calendar year 2000 through 2009, inclusive, and only for such
years, allocations made by the Administrator pursuant to section
7651b of this title, subsections (a)(2), (b)(2), (c)(4), (d)(3)
(except as otherwise provided therein), and (h)(2) of section
7651d of this title, and section 7651e of this title.