EPA Intends To Delay Emissions Controls On Greenhouse Gas Sources

Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator, announced that EPA will be delaying imposition on greenhouse gas limits. This was issued in response to the letter from 8 Democratic senators advising her that EPA does not have the authority to regulate GHGs, except for mobile sources. Much as I'd like to agree, I'm not certain how the senators came up with that position, given that they support the EPA's endangerment finding. If they support the endangerment finding, EPA is supposed to regulate GHGs at the statutory level.

Here's EPA's summary of Ms. Jackson's letter:

WASHINGON – U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson issued a letter responding to a letter sent to her the evening of February 19 by eight U.S. Senators asking about the agency’s plans for 2010.

In the letter, the administrator outlines several of the decisions she has made for 2010-2011:

· No facility will be required to address greenhouse gas emissions in Clean Air Act permitting of new construction or modifications before 2011.

· For the first half of 2011, only facilities that already must apply for Clean Air Act permits as a result of their non-greenhouse gas emissions will need to address their greenhouse gas emissions in their permit applications.

· EPA is also considering a modification to the rule announced in September requiring large facilities emitting more than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year to obtain permits demonstrating they are using the best practices and technologies to minimize GHG emissions. EPA is considering raising that threshold substantially to reflect input provided during the public comment process.

· EPA does not intend to subject smaller facilities to Clean Air Act permitting for greenhouse gas emissions any sooner than 2016.


Full text of the letter: http://epa.gov/oar/pdfs/LPJ_letter.pdf