USEPA Announces Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding
This post is written by Larry Demase.
In response to the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Massachusetts, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al, 127 S.Ct. 1938 (2007), yesterday USEPA announced its finding, long anticipated, that greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of the American people. This so-called endangerment finding also includes USEPA’s decision that greenhouse gas emissions from on-road vehicles contribute to the threat to human health and the environment and purportedly supports USEPA’s proposed greenhouse gas standards for light duty vehicles. According to Administrator Lisa Jackson, the Agency’s endangerment finding is also intended to support its proposed rule requiring new or modified source of greenhouse gases to utilize “best available control technology” to control or reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
Potentially, USEPA’s endangerment finding could trigger a series of steps by the Agency beginning with the designation under the Clean Air Act of greenhouse gases as “criteria” air pollutants and concluding with development of new source performance standards for major categories of new and modified stationary pollution sources along with state implementation plans which contain enforceable emission controls for existing pollution sources within individual states. See Sections 108(a)(i), 111 and 110(a) of the Clean Air Act. On December 2, 2009 in anticipation of the endangerment finding the Center for Biological Diversity and an organization called 350.org filed a petition with USEPA asking the Agency to go forward and regulate greenhouse gases pursuant to the provisions of the Clean Air Act. Petitioners propose that EPA establish national primary and secondary pollution “caps” for greenhouse gases pursuant to Section 109(a) of the Clean Air Act and expeditiously facilitate and aid the states in the state implementation process. This petition has been criticized within the environmental community as being counterproductive to the development of comprehensive legislation.
USEPA’s decision to announce its action has two apparent purposes. The first is to encourage the House and Senate to move forward with climate change legislation because it is generally seen in most quarters that, if USEPA undertakes to control greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, it will bring litigation, uncertainty and more onerous requirements than a comprehensive economy-wide legislative approach. At present both the House and Senate bills being debated contain provisions which would prevent or limit USEPA’s regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, so a vote for the legislation could allow legislators some cover even if it had provisions that were not constituent friendly. The second apparent purpose is that yesterday was the first day of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and USEPA’s action will help President Obama reinforce his leadership position in Copenhagen, and according to Ms. Jackson will demonstrate to the world the United States’ strong commitment to action on climate change. Reed Smith attorneys are attending the conference as delegates.
The greenhouse gases covered by the endangerment finding are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluoro carbons, perfluorcarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.
