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For information related to construction, see OSHA's Electric Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Industry - Construction page.

• Electric Power. Indicates that more than half of the electricity generated in the United States comes from coal. For the foreseeable future, coal will continue to be the dominant fuel used for electric power production. The low cost and abundance of coal is one of the primary reasons why consumers in the United States benefit from some of the lowest electricity rates of any free-market economy.
• Office of Nuclear Safety and Environment. Responsible for the nuclear safety requirements in the following rules:

Note: These are NOT OSHA regulations. However, they do provide guidance from their originating organizations related to worker protection.

• 10 CFR Part 820, Procedural rules of DOE nuclear activities
• 10 CFR Part 830, Nuclear safety management
• 10 CFR Part 834, Radiation protection of the public and the environment
  • See Rules, for more information on DOE's current rulemaking.
• 10 CFR Part 835, Occupational radiation protection
• 10 CFR 707, Workplace substance abuse programs at DOE sites
• 10 CFR 708, DOE contractor employee protection program
• Documented Safety Analysis. Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 830, Nuclear Safety Management, requires contractors and operators of hazard category 1, 2, and 3 DOE nuclear facilities to develop and maintain a Safety Basis and to perform work in accordance with that Safety Basis. The major components of the Safety Basis for a nuclear facility include the Documented Safety Analysis (DSA) and the Technical Safety Requirements (TSRs).
• Health and Safety Programs. Provides policy and guidance to protect the health and safety of current DOE Federal and contractor employees.
  
• 10 CFR 851 Worker Health and Safety Program

• Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS). Develops DOE-wide environmental protection policies and strategies for protecting the public and the environment and for achieving environmental compliance with internal and external environmental requirements.
  • Environment. Search the latest about Federal regulatory initiatives and view over 2200 documents and Federal Register notices.
  • Fossil Energy. Directs such priority projects as pollution-free coal plants, more productive oil and gas fields, and the continuing readiness of federal emergency oil stockpiles. Fossil fuels supply 85% of the nation's energy.
    • FutureGen Clean Coal Projects. Describes project as initially an initiative to build the world's first integrated sequestration and hydrogen production research power plant. FutureGen's restructured approach proposes federal funding to demonstrate cutting-edge carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at multiple commercial-scale integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) coal power plants.
    • Carbon Capture and Water Management Innovations for Existing Power Plants. Shifts focus to research and development on carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technologies that can be retrofitted to existing pulverized coal-fired power plants.
    • Carbon Sequestration R&D Overview. Identifies roughly one third of the United States' carbon emissions come from power plants and other large point sources and to stabilize and ultimately reduce concentrations of this greenhouse gas, it will be necessary to employ carbon sequestration - carbon capture, separation and storage or reuse. Specifically, the program has these elements:
      • Carbon Capture Research
      • Geologic Sequestration Research
      • Ocean Sequestration Research
      • Terrestial Sequestration Research
      • Novel Carbon Sequestration Research

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. FERC which is an independent agency also reviews proposals to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines as well as licensing hydropower projects.
  • Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005. Helps to keep track and participate in the activities surrounding implementation of some of the Act’s requirements.
  • Electric. Has jurisdiction over hydropower projects, but no authority over the construction or maintenance of power generating plants. FERC has significant limited jurisdiction over transmission line siting.

• Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Regulates civilian use of nuclear materials. NRC is an independent agency established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 headed by a five-member Commission. Its mission is to regulate the nation's civilian use of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, to promote the common defense and security, and to protect the environment.
  
  Note: These are NOT OSHA regulations. However, they do provide guidance from their originating organizations related to worker protection.
   
  • 10 CFR, Nuclear regulatory commission
  • Ways To Access NRC's Regulations. Provides access to regulations and guidance.
  • Basic References. Includes links to basic references with regulatory information, key guidance documents, a glossary, general information about NRC and newsletters.

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Establishes guidelines for protecting the public from radiation exposure, such as when to evacuate or relocate citizens. EPA also monitors and assesses radioactivity in the environment from an accident to define the extent of exposure from that accident. In addition, as the Lead Federal Agency, EPA coordinates the Federal response to an emergency if a nuclear accident occurs in a foreign country or if a domestic emergency involves unregulated material.
  • Clean Energy. Provides objective information about Clean Energy technologies, policy options, create networks between the public and private sectors and provide technical assistance.
  • AP 42, Fifth Edition, Volume I, Chapter 3: Stationary Internal Combustion Sources. Includes information on emissions factors which are representative values that attempts to relate the quantity of a pollutant released to the atmosphere with an activity associated with the release of that pollutant. The full Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors, Volume I: Stationary Point and Area Sources, also known as AP 42, is available for download.
    • Stationary Gas Turbines. (2000, April), 84 KB PDF, 20 pages. Identifies the primary pollutants from gas turbine engines are nitrogen oxides (NO_X), carbon monoxide (CO), and to a lesser extent, volatile organic compounds (VOC). Particulate matter (PM) is also a primary pollutant for gas turbines using liquid fuels. Trace to low amounts of HAP and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) are emitted from gas turbines. Ash and metallic additives in the fuel may also contribute to PM in the exhaust. Oxides of sulfur (SO_X) will only appear in a significant quantity if heavy oils are fired in the turbine. Emissions of sulfur compounds, mainly SO2, are directly related to the sulfur content of the fuel.
  • How does electricity affect the environment? Identifies electricity generation as the dominant industrial source of air emissions in the United States today. Of the total energy consumed in America, about 39% is used to generate electricity. Fossil fuel-fired power plants are responsible for 67% of the nation's sulfur dioxide emissions, 23% of nitrogen oxide emissions, and 40% of man-made carbon dioxide emissions. There are links to environmental impacts of electricity generation technologies as well as various energy resources.
    • Natural Gas
    • Coal
    • Oil
    • Nuclear Energy
    • Municipal Solid Waste
    • Hydroelectricity
    • Non-Hydroelectric Renewable Energy
    • Air Emissions
    • Water Resource Use
    • Water Discharge
    • Solid Waste Generation
    • Land Resource Use
  • Ready to Respond: EPA's Radiological Emergency Preparedness and Response Programs. Assigns roles to several Federal agencies that contribute to an emergency response, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA's three major responsibilities in the Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan (FRERP) flow from the Agency's overall mission: to protect human health and the environment. FRERP was approved in 1985 and revised in 1996
  • The Emissions and Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID). Reports in eGRID 2000, that the average emissions rates in the United States from natural gas-fired generation are: 1135 lbs/MWh of carbon dioxide, 0.1 lbs/MWh of sulfur dioxide, and 1.7 lbs/MWh of nitrogen oxides. In the same report, the EPA found that compared to the average air emissions from coal-fired generation, natural gas produces half as much carbon dioxide, less than a third as much nitrogen oxides, and 1% as much sulfur oxides at the power plant. In addition, the process of extraction, treatment, and transport of the natural gas to the power plant generates additional emissions.

• Bureau of Reclamation (BOR). Manages water and water related resources in the western United States in an economically and environmentally sound manner for the American people. BOR is an agency in the US Department of the Interior.  
  • Dataweb - Powerplants. The Project Dataweb provides the most current information on Reclamation's projects, facilities, and programs. On its power plant page, there is information available on installed capacity, initial year of operation, age, net generation, rated heat, plant factor and power plant performance is available for all major hydroelectric power plants as well as photo, contact information, plant history and authorization.

• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Provides affordable and reliable power, promotes sustainable economic development, and acts as a steward of the Valley's natural resources as its three-fold mission. The TVA is a federal corporation and the nation’s largest public power company. It operates fossil-fuel, nuclear, and hydropower plants, and also produces energy from renewable sources. It manages the nation’s fifth-largest river system to minimize flood risk, produce power, maintain navigation, provide recreational opportunities, and protect water quality in the 41,000-square-mile watershed.
  • TVA Reservoirs and Power Plants. Provides an interactive map of the entire Tennessee Valley Authority power system, including fossil and nuclear plants, dams and reservoirs. Details are provided on each facility and how they interact.