Blankenship Reports On Step 3 of the Tailoring Rule

The Tailoring Rule is EPA's way of shoe-horning GHG regulations into the Clean Air Act. Ordinarily, many of the Clean Air Act rules only apply to sources that emit 100 or 250 tons per year of certain air pollutants, but if EPA were to do that with carbon dioxide, it (or the states) would end up having to permit hundreds of thousands or millions of new sources, which it doesn't have the resources to do.  So it took some liberties and changed the applicability thresholds for GHGs. Anne Blankenship has posted the following about Step 3 of  EPA's Tailoring Rule, EPA's latest contortion with regard to GHGs:

The EPA has released its proposed Step 3 of the Tailoring Rule for GHG emissions. It is proposing to maintain the applicability thresholds for GHG-emitting sources


at the current levels established in Steps 1 and 2. EPA is also proposing two streamlining approaches in an attempt to improve the administration of GHG Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and title V permitting programs.

The first proposal addresses the implementation of GHG plantwide applicability limitations (PALs). It proposes to allow permitting authorities to issue GHG PALs on either a mass-basis (tpy) or a carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)-basis and to allow PALs to be used as an alternative approach for determining whether a project is a major modification and whether GHG emissions are subject to regulation. The second proposal would create the regulatory authority for the EPA to issue synthetic minor limitations for GHGs in areas subject to a GHG PSD Federal Implementation Plan (FIP). EPA also discusses its progress in evaluating the suitability of other streamlining approaches and solicits further comment.

Comments on the proposal must be received on or before April 20, 2012.The proposed rule in the federal register can be accessed at : http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-03-08/pdf/2012-5431.pdf

EPA’s Fact Sheet: http://www.epa.gov/nsr/ghgdocs/Step3FactSheet.pdf

On the same topic, the DC Court of Appeals heard challenges to the Endangerment Finding and Tailoring Rule last week. Here's a report from Pace University on the argument. Here's the position of the National Association of Manufacturers, to get an idea of one business entites' take on the matter.