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Sec.

SUBCHAPTER E-ALTERNATE FUELS

PART 500-DEFINITIONS

500.1 Purpose and scope.

500.2 General definitions.

500.3 Electric regions electric region groupings for reliability measurements under the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978.

AUTHORITY: Department of Energy Organization Act, Pub. L. 95-91, 91 Stat. 565 (42 U.S.C. §7101 et seq.); Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978, Pub. L. 95-620, 92 Stat. 3289 (42 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.); Energy Security Act, Pub. L.96-294, 94 Stat. 611 (42 U.S.C. 8701 et seq.); E.O. 1209, 42 FR 46267, September 15, 1977.

OMB Control No.: 1903-0075. See 46 FR 63209, Dec. 31, 1981.

SOURCE: 46 FR 59884, Dec. 7, 1981, unless otherwise noted.

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For purposes of this part and parts 501-507 term(s):

Act means Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978, 42 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.

Action means a prohibition by rule or order, in accordance with sections 301(b) and (c) of FUA; any order granting or denying an exemption in accordance with sections 211, 212, 311 and 312 of FUA; a modification or rescission of any such order, or rule; an interpretation; a notice of violation; a remedial order; an interpretive ruling; or a rulemaking undertaken by DOE.

Affiliate, when used in relation to person, means another person who controls, is controlled by, or is under common control, with such person.

Aggrieved, for purposes of administrative proceedings, describes and means a person (with an interest sought to be protected under FUA) who is adversely affected by an action proposed or undertaken by DOE.

Air pollution control agency means any of the following:

(1) A single State agency designated as the official State air pollution control agency;

(2) An agency established by two or more States and having substantial powers or duties pertaining to the prevention and control of air pollution;

(3) A city, county, or other local government health authority or, in the case of any city, county, or other local unit of government in which there is an agency other than the health authority charged with responsibility for enforcing ordinances or laws relating to the prevention and control of air pollution, such other agency; or

(4) An agency or two or more municipalities located in the same State or in different States and having substantial powers or duties pertaining to the prevention and control of air pollution.

Alternate fuel means electricity or any fuel, other than natural gas or petroleum. The term includes, but is not limited to:

(1) Coal;

(2) Solar energy;

(3) Petroleum coke; shale oil; uranium; biomass, tar sands, oil-impregnated diatomaceous earth; municipal, industrial, or agricultural wastes; wood; and renewable and geothermal energy sources (For purposes of this paragraph (3), the term industrial does not include refineries.);

(4) Liquid, solid or gaseous waste byproducts of refinery or industrial operations which are commercially unmarketable, either by reason of quality or quantity. (For purposes of this paragraph (4), the term waste by-product is defined as an unavoidable by-product of the industrial or refinery operation.) A waste by-product of a refinery or industrial operation is commercially unmarketable if it meets the criteria listed in the definition of "commercial unmarketability," set forth below; (5) Any fuel derived from an alternate fuel; and

(6) Waste gases from industrial operations. (For purposes of this subsection, the term industrial does not include refineries.)

Applicable environmental requirements includes:

(1) Any standard, limitation, or other requirement established by or pursuant to Federal or State law (including any final order of any Federal or State Court) applicable to emissions of environmental pollutants (including air and water pollutants) or disposal of solid waste residues resulting from the use of coal or other alternate fuels, natural gas, or petroleum as a primary energy source or from the operation of pollution control equipment in connection with such use, taking into account any variance of law granted or issued in accordance with Federal law or in accordance with State law to the extent consistent with Federal law; and

(2) Any other standard, limitation, or other requirement established by, or pursuant to, the Clean Air Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, or the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

Base load powerplant means a powerplant, the electrical generation of which in kilowatt hours exceeds, for any 12-calendar-month period, such powerplant's design capacity multiplied by 3,500 hours.

Boiler means a closed vessel in which water is heated electrically or by the combustion of a fuel to produce steam of one percent or more quality.

Btu means British thermal unit. Capability to use alternate fuel, for the purposes of Title II prohibitions relating to construction of new powerplants, means the powerplant to be constructed:

(1) Has sufficient inherent design characteristics to permit the addition of equipment (including all necessary pollution devices) necessary to render such electric powerplant capable of using coal or another alternate fuel as its primary energy source; and

(2) Is not physically, structurally, or technologically precluded from using coal or another alternate fuel as its primary energy source.

Capability to use coal or another alternate fuel shall not be interpreted to require any such powerplant to be immediately able to use coal or another alternate fuel as its primary energy

source on its initial day of operation. In addition, the owner or operator of a baseload powerplant need not have adequate on-site space for either a coal gasifier or any facilities for handling coal or related fuels.

Certification means a document, signed by an official of the owner or operator, notarized, and submitted to OFE, which declares that a new powerplant will have the "capability to use alternate fuel" (as defined herein).

Certifying powerplant means an existing powerplant whose owner or operator seeks to obtain a prohibition order against the use of natural gas or petroleum either totally or in a mixture with coal or an alternate fuel by filing a certification as to both the technical capability and financial feasibility of conversion to coal or another alternate fuel pursuant to section 301 of FUA, as amended.

Clean Air Act means the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. (1970), as amended by Public Law 93-319, 88 Stat. 246, and Public Law 95-91, 91 Stat. 685.

Coal means anthracite, bituminous and sub-bituminous coal, lignite, and any fuel derivative thereof.

Cogeneration facility means an electric powerplant that produces: (1) Electric power; and

(2) Any other form of useful energy (such as steam, gas or heat) that is, or will be used, for industrial, commercial, or space heating purposes. In addition, for purposes of this definition, electricity generated by the cogeneration facility must constitute more than five (5) percent and less than ninety (90) percent of the useful energy output of the facility.

NOTE Any cogeneration facility selling or exchanging less than fifty percent (50%) of the facility's generated electricity is considered an industrial cogenerator and is exempt from the fuel use prohibitions of FUA.

Combined cycle unit means an electric power generating unit that consists of a combination of one or more combustion turbine units and one or more steam turbine units with a substantial portion of the required energy input of the steam turbine unit(s) provided by the exhaust gas from the combustion turbine unit(s).

Substantial amounts of supplemental firing for a steam turbine or waste heat

boiler to improve thermal efficiency will not affect a unit's classification as a combined cycle unit.

Combustion turbine means a unit that is a rotary engine driven by a gas under pressure that is created by the combustion of any fuel.

Commercial unmarketability as used in the definitions of "alternate fuel," "natural gas" and "petroleum" shall be determined as follows:

(1) A waste by-product of industrial or refinery operations is commercially unmarketable by reason of:

(i) Quality, where the cost of processing (limited to upgrading the waste by-product to commercial quality), storing, and distributing the waste byproduct would not be covered by reasonably expected revenues from its sale;

(ii) Quantity, where the cost of aggregating the waste by-product into commercial quantities through storing and distributing the waste by-product would not be covered by reasonably expected revenues from its sale.

(2) A fuel will not be classified as "natural gas" when it is commercially unmarketable by reason of:

(i) Quality, where the cost of producing, upgrading to commercial quality, storing, and distributing the fuel would not be covered by reasonably expected revenues from its sale; or

(ii) Quantity, where the quantities of the fuel are so small that the revenues to be reasonably expected from its sale would not cover the cost of its production, distribution or storage.

(3) Costs associated with upgrading, storing, distributing, and aggregating a by-product or other fuel (to determine if such fuel is natural gas) may properly include a reasonable rate of return on any capital investment required to overcome the problems posed by the quality or quantity of a fuel because the return on investment is a normal aspect of any investment decision. A firm may account for this reasonable rate of return by using its customary discount rate for an investment of similar risk.

(4) As part of any consideration of the rate of return on investment, the cost of replacing the Btu's lost if the by-product or other fuel were upgraded and sold instead of used as a fuel may

be taken into consideration. The actual expense that would result from burning a replacement fuel in lieu of the byproduct or other fuel in question may therefore be considered. The costs associated with using a replacement fuel are indirect costs that result from upgrading and selling the fuel, instead of burning it. These indirect costs as well as the direct costs associated with the upgrading, storing, distributing, and aggregating of by-products or other fuel may be considered in any assessment of commercial unmarketability.

Conference means an informal meeting incident to any proceeding, between DOE and any interested person.

Construction means substantial physical activity at the unit site and includes more than clearance of a site or installation of foundation pilings.

Costs means total costs, both operating and capital, incurred over the estimated remaining useful life of an electric powerplant, discounted to the present, pursuant to rules established in parts 503 and 504 of these regulations.

DEOA means the Department of Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91) (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) as implemented by Executive Order 12009 (42 FR 46267, September 15, 1977).

Design capability defined in section 103(a)(7) of FUA, shall be determined as follows:

(1) Boiler and associated generator turbines. The design fuel heat input rate of a steam-electric generating unit (Btu/ hr) shall be the product of the generator's nameplate rating, measured in kilowatts, and 3412 (Btu/kWh), divided by the overall boiler-turbine-generator unit design efficiency (decimal); or if the generator's nameplate does not have a rating measured in kilowatts, the product of the generator's kilovoltamperes nameplate rating, and the power factor nameplate rating; and 3412 (Btu/kWh), divided by the boiler turbine-generator unit's design efficiency (decimal). (The number 3412 converts kilowatt-hours (absolute) into Btu's (mean).)

(2) Combustion turbine and associated generator. The design fuel heat input rate of a combustion turbine (Btu/hr) shall be the product of its nameplate rating, measured in kilowatts, and 3412

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