Mark your calendars for August 27, 2015, for the next luncheon meeting of the Rocky Mountain States Section of the Air & Waste Management Association, when our guest speaker Joe Rubino of Stanley Consultants will present details on the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan.

Time:  11:30 lunch (no cost); 11:50 welcome and introductions; noon presentation

Place: National Park Service, 7333 W. Jefferson, Lakewood, Conference Room 44

DIRECTIONS:

The meeting location is at Academy Place, 4th Floor conference room, which is one block south of Wadsworth and Hampden. Jefferson Street is the first light south of Hampden; go east; the office building is on the north side with a pond out front.  Enter the building on the east side and go up the elevator to the 4th floor.  Turn left and go about 50 feet to the conference room on the left.

ABSTRACT. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) proposed CO₂ emission guidelines for existing electric utility generating units on June 18, 2014. The proposal, referred to as the Clean Power Plan, calls for a reduction in carbon emissions of 30 percent by 2030 as compared to 2005 levels.  The Clean Power Plan has been given significant attention by states, regulated industry and the public with respect to steps needed for implementation and future compliance with proposed emission targets between 2020 and 2030. This presentation will initially provide historical background on CO₂ regulation development and then move into a detailed discussion of the 111 (d) requirements. Some discussion on EPA’s authority to move ahead with these regulations and the initial legal challenges which have surfaced around this authority will be presented. More specifically, information will be provided on plan framework (i.e. the 4 building blocks consisting of heat rate improvements, dispatch changes, lower-emitting generation capacity, and demand side energy efficiency), required plan contents, single versus multi-state plan approaches, state CO₂ goals (both interim and final), and schedules for compliance. Challenges associated with the development and execution of state plans and how regulated utilities will demonstrate compliance will also be described. Special focus will be given to the western states, which face unique challenges on land management and future air quality nonattainment areas. USEPA expects to finalize these regulations by late summer 2015. If the final rule has been issued, updates to the proposed rule will be provided during the presentation.

Joe Rubino is a senior project manager at Stanley Consultants, with 29 years of professional experience in environmental consulting, private industry and government. Industry experience includes environmental manager for a chemical plant, air quality manager for an oil refinery and senior environmental planner for a utility’s wind energy development team. Joe’s project experience also includes air quality permitting and dispersion modeling, compliance auditing, development of environmental management systems, wastewater/storm water permitting, and waste management

If you would like to attend, please rsvp to Ty Smith ([email protected]) by COB, Tuesday, August 25^th.