EPA Proposes Rules on Clean Air Act Permitting for Greenhouse Gas Emissions (HQ)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
is proposing two rules to ensure that businesses planning to build
new, large facilities or make major expansions to existing ones
will be able to obtain Clean Air Act permits that address their
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the spring of 2010, EPA
finalized the GHG Tailoring Rule, which specifies that beginning in
2011, projects that will increase GHG emissions substantially will
require an air permit. Today’s rules will help ensure that
these sources will be able to get those permits regardless of where
they are located.
The Tailoring Rule covers large industrial
facilities like power plants and oil refineries that are
responsible for 70 percent of the GHGs from stationary sources. The
proposals announced today are a critical component for implementing
the Tailoring Rule and would ensure that GHG emissions from these
large facilities are minimized in all 50 states and that local
economies can continue to grow.
The Clean Air Act requires states to develop
EPA-approved implementation plans that include requirements for
issuing air permits. When federal permitting requirements change,
as they did after EPA finalized the GHG Tailoring Rule, states may
need to modify these plans.
In the first rule, EPA is proposing to require
permitting programs in 13 states to make changes to their
implementation plans to ensure that GHG emissions will be covered.
All other states that implement an EPA-approved air permitting
program must review their existing permitting authority and inform
EPA if their programs do not address GHG emissions.
Because some states may not be able to develop
and submit revisions to their plans before the Tailoring Rule
becomes effective in 2011, in the second rule, EPA is proposing a
federal implementation plan, which would allow EPA to issue permits
for large GHG emitters located in these states. This would be a
temporary measure that is in place until the state can revise its
own plan and resume responsibility for GHG permitting.
States are best-suited to issue permits to
sources of GHG emissions and have long-standing experience working
together with industrial facilities. EPA will work closely and
promptly with states to help them develop, submit, and approve
necessary revisions to enable the affected states to issue air
permits to GHG-emitting sources. Additionally, EPA will continue to
provide guidance and act as a resource for the states as they make
the various required permitting decisions for GHG
emissions.
EPA will accept comment on the first proposal
for updated state implementation plans for 30 days after
publication in the Federal Register. EPA has scheduled a hearing on
the second proposal for the federal implementation plan on August
25, 2010, and will accept comment for 30 days after that hearing.
The agency is working to finalize these rules prior to January 2,
2011, the earliest GHG permitting requirements will be
effective.
More information: http://www.epa.gov/nsr