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Air Quality:
Exempt Duke Energy

Our Position: oppose
Bill Number: S1587
Sponsor: Provision - Rep. Pryor Gibson
Legislative Session: 2006

A provision in SB 1587 exempts Duke Energy from a clean air rule adopted in 2005 by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission.

Status

The rule Duke won an exemption from would make the permit application for a proposed major expansion of Cliffside, a 1940s coal-fired power plant on the Cleveland/Rutherford border, subject to additional federal scrutiny for impact on the Great Smokies, Linville Gorge and Shining Rock Wilderness area.  According to the Division of Air Quality, the exemption likely means that 3500 more tons of sulfur dioxide (SOx) will be emitted into the air of western North Carolina annually than would be the case if the North Carolina rule remains in place.   The Clean Air Act, under its Prevention of Significant Deterioration provisions, sets a higher bar for control of emissions into the cleanest airsheds, known as Class I areas, than for other areas.  The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Shining Rock Wilderness and Linville Gorge are all Class I areas.  Proposed new air permits for such areas can be required to undergo an analysis for impact, including a visibility analysis.  This analysis is called BACT, for Best Available Control Technology.  Typically, facilities which undergo BACT analysis are required to operate at very high levels of pollution control.  SB 1587 effectively exempts Duke from the BACT analysis.

The provisions affecting Duke’s expansion of Clifffside were added late in the session to SB 1587, Amend Environmental and Natural Resource Laws, an unrelated bill which had already passed the Senate.  SB 1587, including the Exempt Duke provision, passed the House with the Senate concurring.

Action Needed