U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced yesterday a proposal requiring large industrial facilities that emit at least 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases (GHGs) a year to obtain construction and operating permits covering these emissions. These permits must demonstrate the use of best available control technologies and energy efficiency measures to minimize GHG emissions when facilities are constructed or significantly modified.
In addition, EPA is requesting public comment on its previous interpretation of when certain pollutants, including CO2 and other GHGs, would be covered under the permitting provisions of the Clean Air Act. A different interpretation could mean that large facilities would need to obtain permits prior to the finalization of a rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions.
You can find additional information, including a link to the full text of the Administrator’s remarks at the California Governor’s Global Climate Summit, on the agency’s website here. Furthermore, the Washington Post today has an article (“EPA, Senate Take Aim at Greenhouse Gases”) on the EPA’s proposal and the recent climate bill introduced in the Senate. Here is the article that appeared in the New York Times on the same topic.