A proposal that sets the stage for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources has become available for public comment.
The proposed “tailoring” rule, announced last month by EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson and filed in the Federal Register on Oct. 27, would raise by 100 times the permitting threshold established by the Clean Air Act.
The Clean Air Act set a threshold of 250 tons per year for Prevention of Significant Deterioration permitting — a permit that requires the use of Best Available Control Technology for pollutants including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The current proposal would establish a threshold for greenhouse gas emissions of 25,000 tons carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
“This proposal is necessary because EPA expects soon to promulgate regulations under the CAA to control (greenhouse gas) emissions,” the summary of the proposed rule reads. At levels provided in the CAA, “state permitting authorities would be paralyzed by permit applications in numbers that are orders of magnitude greater than their current administrative resources could accommodate.”
As described last month by Jackson, the proposal would exempt small businesses and apply only to the large sources that make up 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions — about 14,000 power plants, refineries and factories. The move is part of EPA’s response to a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling requiring the agency to regulate greenhouse gases under the CAA.
Some in the industry expect the EPA regulation to be a blunt instrument for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They see the agency’s momentum toward regulation as pressure to support the greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program that currently is being crafted by Congress with input from a broad range of stakeholders.
American Electric Power CEO Michael G. Morris wrote recently that, while EPA action would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and possibly create a cleaner energy supply, the agency would not necessarily consider impacts on employment, consumer costs or the economy.
On another matter, some question whether the EPA legally can change the Prevention of Significant Deterioration threshold or whether an act of Congress is required.
The proposed rule seeks comment on other aspects of EPA regulation of greenhouse gases as well.
