EPA states that TVA’s environmental evaluation of changing the Kingston coal plant with new fossil fuel pipeline and energy vegetation is insufficient, and a supplemental evaluation with extra transparency is required.
Maggie Shober | March 28, 2024
| Fossil Gasoline, Tennessee, Utilities
The Environmental Safety Company (EPA) says TVA’s environmental evaluation of its substitute of the Kingston coal plant has “critical deficiencies,” and thus “doesn’t fulfill the necessities of NEPA and its implementing rules.” As a result of these shortcomings, EPA requests that TVA situation one other environmental evaluation:
“Our evaluation has decided that the Ultimate EIS fails to handle quite a few EPA considerations recognized with the Draft Environmental Influence Assertion and the dearth of transparency prevents us from understanding TVA’s remedy of a number of necessary points. Thus, the Ultimate EIS is insufficient. The EPA requests that Tennessee Valley Authority put together a supplemental EIS in accordance with 40 CFR 1502.9(d).” ~EPA letter to TVA on March 25, 2024
NEPA & TVA
As a federal company, TVA should carry out an environmental evaluation of all main choices as dictated by the Seventies-era Nationwide Environmental Coverage Act (NEPA). One key facet of NEPA critiques is the power of the EPA to evaluation, and touch upon if needed, an Environmental Influence Assertion (EIS) carried out by a fellow federal company. TVA makes use of its NEPA course of as a stand-in for true stakeholder enter, public engagement, and transparency, as we now have identified beforehand. And TVA’s last EIS on its substitute of Kingston coal plant has critical flaws, together with counting on outdated info.
TVA’s Coal Retirement Plans
The TVA Board of Administrators has dedicated to retiring all of TVA’s remaining coal vegetation, that are a number of the oldest within the nation, by 2035, together with the 9 coal items on the Kingston website in east Tennessee. This determination relies on TVA’s personal evaluation exhibiting that retaining these vegetation on-line is uneconomic and a threat to reliability of the system.
Below NEPA, the final step earlier than a federal entity can decide is a last EIS. In February, TVA launched its last EIS recommending changing Kingston with 1,500 MW of recent fossil fuel energy vegetation and a brand new 122-mile fossil fuel pipeline, in addition to 100 MW of batteries and 3-4 MW of photo voltaic. EPA has now reviewed that FEIS and launched their feedback.
“Our considerations proceed to be substantial”
On March 25, EPA despatched TVA a letter citing a number of deficiencies in its last EIS, which EPA had introduced as much as TVA beforehand on this course of, and requesting that TVA situation a supplemental EIS earlier than making a last determination. EPA’s response makes clear that we at SACE are usually not the one ones involved about transparency round TVA’s planning and decision-making processes: EPA cites a scarcity of transparency round useful resource prices; the inclusion of federal funding and packages; and the specifics of TVA’s outlined want as just some of the explanations TVA’s last EIS doesn’t meet NEPA rules.
“Our considerations proceed to be substantial, and the EPA requests that the related parts of the Ultimate EIS be revised and made out there for public remark in a supplemental EIS. Particularly, the Ultimate EIS doesn’t disclose important info underlying the important thing evaluation of the prices of every choice, underestimates GHG and criterial pollutant emissions, fails to contemplate an inexpensive vary of possible alternate options together with extra environmentally protecting alternate options that don’t lock-in fossil gasoline era, and inadequately considers impacts on communities with environmental justice considerations.” ~EPA letter to TVA on March 25, 2024
Learn EPA’s full remark letter to TVA right here.
NEPA Achieved Nicely Doesn’t Delay Infrastructure
EPA’s request for a supplemental environmental evaluation for TVA could delay the substitute of Kingston. However the delay shouldn’t be as a result of the NEPA course of inherently slows infrastructure – it’s as a result of TVA shouldn’t be offering the transparency required below NEPA and since TVA failed to handle considerations EPA introduced up earlier within the course of. NEPA evaluation is typically cited as a speedbump hindering us from getting vitality infrastructure, clear or not, on-line shortly. However the NEPA course of strikes extra shortly whether it is completed properly from the start. So TVA’s incompetence on this explicit NEPA evaluation is the reason for delay.
Subsequent Steps as much as TVA
We’ll proceed to watch TVA’s technique of changing retiring coal vegetation, and significantly will search for a supplemental EIS from TVA to handle EPA’s considerations with the Kingston last EIS. We hope that TVA’s future NEPA critiques, together with one for a draft Built-in Useful resource Plan that’s anticipated any day now, will likely be extra clear and TVA will put in place a extra sturdy stakeholder engagement course of.
