Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110

§7651h Repowered Sources

Title 42 › CHAPTER 85 — AIR POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL › SUBCHAPTER IV–A — ACID DEPOSITION CONTROL › § 7651h

Last updated Sep 23, 2026|Official source

Summary

Owners of certain existing power units could get extra time to meet pollution limits if they showed by December 31, 1997 that they would repower a unit with a qualifying clean coal technology. They had to give the permitting agency, by January 1, 2000, a preliminary design, a binding contract for most of the repowering equipment, and any other information the Administrator required. Replacing a unit at a different site can count as repowering if the owner names the new unit as the replacement and the old unit is retired before the new one starts commercial operation. If the owner meets the showing, the compliance date is moved from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2003 and the permit will include the new schedule. If the chosen technology was built and tested but still can’t meet limits and is not feasible, the owner may switch to another clean coal or other control technology. While the extension is in effect, the Administrator gives the unit annual sulfur dioxide allowances based on the unit’s baseline and the lesser of its State Implementation Plan limit or its actual 1995 rate; those allowances cannot be used by other sources. The owner must tell the Administrator 60 days before taking the unit offline to install repowering equipment. Allowances for the year the unit is taken offline are calculated as baseline × 1.20 lbs/mmBtu ÷ 2,000 and prorated; those are transferable. After repowering, yearly allowances are baseline × 1.20 lbs/mmBtu ÷ 2,000. Units that do not raise hourly emissions for any regulated pollutant are not subject to new source performance standards, but a new replacement unit at a different site does not get that exemption. States and the Administrator are urged to speed up permit reviews. It is illegal for an owner to ignore these requirements or to emit SO2 beyond their allowances.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §7651h

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Availability

Not later than December 31, 1997, the owner or operator of an existing unit subject to the emissions limitation requirements of section 7651d(b) and (c) of this title may demonstrate to the permitting authority that one or more units will be repowered with a qualifying clean coal technology to comply with the requirements under section 7651d of this title. The owner or operator shall, as part of any such demonstration, provide, not later than January 1, 2000, satisfactory documentation of a preliminary design and engineering effort for such repowering and an executed and binding contract for the majority of the equipment to repower such unit and such other information as the Administrator may require by regulation. The replacement of an existing utility unit with a new utility unit using a repowering technology referred to in section 7651a(2) of this title which is located at a different site, shall be treated as repowering of the existing unit for purposes of this subchapter, if—

(1)the replacement unit is designated by the owner or operator to replace such existing unit, and

(2)the existing unit is retired from service on or before the date on which the designated replacement unit enters commercial operation.

(b)Extension

(1)An owner or operator satisfying the requirements of subsection (a) shall be granted an extension of the emission limitation requirement compliance date for that unit from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2003. The extension shall be specified in the permit issued to the source under section 7651g of this title, together with any compliance schedule and other requirements necessary to meet second phase requirements by the extended date. Any unit that is granted an extension under this section shall not be eligible for a waiver under section 7411(j) of this title, and shall continue to be subject to requirements under this subchapter as if it were a unit subject to section 7651d of this title.

(2)If (A) the owner or operator of an existing unit has been granted an extension under paragraph (1) in order to repower such unit with a clean coal unit, and (B) such owner or operator demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Administrator that the repowering technology to be utilized by such unit has been properly constructed and tested on such unit, but nevertheless has been unable to achieve the emission reduction limitations and is economically or technologically infeasible, such existing unit may be retrofitted or repowered with equipment or facilities utilizing another clean coal technology or other available control technology.

(c)Allowances

(1)For the period of the extension under this section, the Administrator shall allocate to the owner or operator of the affected unit, annual allowances for sulfur dioxide equal to the affected unit’s baseline multiplied by the lesser of the unit’s federally approved State Implementation Plan emissions limitation or its actual emission rate for 1995 in lieu of any other allocation. Such allowances may not be transferred or used by any other source to meet emission requirements under this subchapter. The source owner or operator shall notify the Administrator sixty days in advance of the date on which the affected unit for which the extension has been granted is to be removed from operation to install the repowering technology.

(2)Effective on that date, the unit shall be subject to the requirements of section 7651d of this title. Allowances for the year in which the unit is removed from operation to install the repowering technology shall be calculated as the product of the unit’s baseline multiplied by 1.20 lbs/mmBtu, divided by 2,000, and prorated accordingly, and are transferable.

(3)Allowances for such existing utility units for calendar years after the year the repowering is complete shall be calculated as the product of the existing unit’s baseline multiplied by 1.20 lbs/mmBtu, divided by 2,000.

(4)Notwithstanding the provisions of section 7651b(a) and (e) of this title, allowances shall be allocated under this section for a designated replacement unit which replaces an existing unit (as provided in the last sentence of subsection (a)) in lieu of any further allocations of allowances for the existing unit.

(5)For the purpose of meeting the aggregate emissions limitation requirement set forth in section 7651b(a)(1) of this title, the units with an extension under this subsection shall be treated in each calendar year during the extension period as holding allowances allocated under paragraph (3).

(d)Control requirements

Any unit qualifying for an extension under this section that does not increase actual hourly emissions for any pollutant regulated under the chapter shall not be subject to any standard of performance under section 7411 of this title. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, no new unit (1) designated as a replacement for an existing unit, (2) qualifying for the extension under subsection (b), and (3) located at a different site than the existing unit shall receive an exemption from the requirements imposed under section 7411 of this title.

(e)Expedited permitting

State permitting authorities and, where applicable, the Administrator, are encouraged to give expedited consideration to permit applications under parts C and D of subchapter I of this chapter for any source qualifying for an extension under this section.

(f)Prohibition

It shall be unlawful for the owner or operator of a repowered source to fail to comply with the requirement of this section, or any regulations of permit requirements to implement this section, including the prohibition against emitting sulfur dioxide in excess of allowances held.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 7651h

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Sep 23, 2026

Release point: 119-110