The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing new air pollution standards for large aircraft engines, and greenhouse gas regulations could be on the way, as a result of a new federal court ruling.
The EPA is proposing nitrogen oxide standards for engines used in large aircraft such as 737s, 747s, and 767s.
Exposure to nitrogen oxide emissions can cause and aggravate lung diseases and increase susceptibility to respiratory infection.
The standards, which were previously agreed to by the United Nation’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), would reduce ground-level nitrogen oxide emissions by an estimated 100,000 tons in the US by 2030. If adopted, they will be phased in over the next two years, applying to all new engines in 2013.
The proposal comes just days after a US District court ruled the EPA must formally determine whether greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution from aircraft also endangers human health and welfare. Such an endangerment finding would be the first step in setting regulations.
The ruling is in response to a suit brought against the EPA by several environmental organizations that claim the agency failed to determine whether nonroad vehicles and engines contribute to air pollution.
While U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy Jr dismissed claims concerning marine vessels and nonroad vehicles, he decided the EPA had failed to investigate aircraft engine emissions.
Earthjustice which filed the law suit on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana, Friends of the Earth, the Center for Food Safety, and the International Center for Technology Assessment, says the EPA now must move forward under the Clean Air Act to address GHG emissions from aircraft.
The court determined that Congress "intended to mandate a certain outcome – the regulation of harmful aircraft emissions." Permitting the EPA to avoid making a determination of whether climate pollutants from aircraft are harmful to humans would "allow . . . EPA to shirk its duty to combat air pollution."
The lawsuit claims the EPA delayed three years in responding to petitions concerning the harm caused by nonroad vehicle GHG emissions. Next the court will set a timeline that EPA must follow.
The airline industry in the US and China is currently resisting GHG constraints in the European Union – the industry will be required to participate in the EU’s cap-and-trade program beginning next year.
Participation in carbon trading is expected to only slightly raise the cost of ticket prices, but the industry says that rising fuel prices have already shrunk profit margins. The Air Transport Association of America is challenging the European plan in EU courts.
The airline industry is responsible for an estimated 3% of global GHG emissions.
GHG emissions from US aircraft are expected to increase 60% by 2025 and more than triple worldwide by 2050, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
"Climate change is not a threat in the distant future – it’s already happening all around us," says Vera Pardee, a lawyer with the Center for Biological Diversity. "But greenhouse gas pollution from aircraft, ships and nonroad engines and vessels is increasing – and increasing its contribution to climate change – even though technologies exist to reduce it. Today’s ruling establishes once again that the Clean Air Act is an effective tool that the EPA must employ to prevent even greater damage from these harmful emissions."
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