The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Thursday finalized its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rule for large stationary sources, choosing to exempt smaller sources that would have been covered in the rule as initially proposed last year.
The phased-in approach will address facilities like power plants and oil refineries that are responsible for roughly 70% of the greenhouse gases from stationary sources.
“There is no denying our responsibility to protect the planet for our
children and grandchildren. It’s long past time we unleashed our
American ingenuity and started building the efficient, prosperous clean
energy economy of the future.” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.
Finalization of the rule is expected to provide greater motivation to Congress to craft its own approach to reducing GHG emissions. The Obama administration has said the EPA will back down from its regulation approach if Congress steps up. On Wednesday a climate and energy bill was finally unveiled in the US Senate, though it has only a slim chance of reaching a floor vote this year.
EPA’s phased-in approach will start in January 2011, when Clean Air Act permitting requirements for GHGs will kick in for large facilities that are already obtaining Clean Air Act permits for other pollutants. Those facilities will be required to include GHGs in their permit if they increase these emissions by at least 75,000 tons per year (tpy).
In July 2011, Clean Air Act permitting requirements will expand to cover all new facilities with GHG emissions of at least 100,000 tpy and modifications at existing facilities that would increase GHG emissions by at least 75,000 tpy. These permits must demonstrate the use of best available control technologies to minimize GHG emission increases when facilities are constructed or significantly modified.
Under the new emissions thresholds for GHGs that begin in July 2011, EPA estimates approximately 900 additional permitting actions covering new sources and modifications to existing sources would be subject to review each year. In addition, 550 sources will need to obtain operating permits for the first time because of their GHG emissions.
In April 2010, EPA set the first national GHG tailpipe standards for passenger cars and light trucks. When GHG emissions limits for these vehicles go into effect in January 2011, EPA is also required to address GHG emissions from stationary sources under the Clean Air Act’s permitting programs, which it is doing in the plan outlined today.
The final rule addresses a group of six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).
“This final ‘tailoring’ rule is a first step toward reducing the devastating impact of the nation’s biggest smokestacks on the planet’s climate, oceans, and quality of life," Greenpeace representative Kyle Ash said in a release.
“Unfortunately, this final rule is weaker than the proposed rule, in that it has raised the threshold of covered emissions to 100,000 tons per year (from 25,000 tons per year), which reduces covered sources from around 13,000 to less than 5,000. Nonetheless, these facilities are responsible for 64% of the nation’s global warming pollution from stationary sources and represent about 40% of the total US contribution to global climate change," he added.
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