Environmental Law ReSource : Environmental Lawyer & Attorney : Reed Smith Law Firm : Climate Change, Sustainability

This post was written by David Wagner.

Although this doesn’t make anything official, it’s an interesting development: the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA) reported yesterday that, with the onset of greenhouse gas (GHG) permitting only two months away, every state but one -- Texas -- is poised to ensure that sources can obtain preconstruction permits under the Clean Air Act come January 2, 2011.

As we’ve discussed on the blog, certain larger GHG emission sources will be subject to permitting requirements for planned construction projects under the Tailoring Rule starting on January 2, 2011. While most states already have the authority to permit GHGs under preconstruction permit – or Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) – programs, USEPA proposed two rules to fill gaps in 13 state permitting programs that do not allow for the regulation of GHG emissions from industrial sources. The first proposed rule seeks to allow states that are not prepared to regulate GHGs to revise their State Implementation Plans. The second rule outlines USEPA's plan to establish a Federal Implementation Plan that would take over permitting programs in states that do not meet the requirements by January 2011.

NACAA, which is an association of air pollution control agencies in the United States, reviewed the air permitting program responses of the 13 states at issue. According to the NACAA report, air permitting agencies in all states on USEPA’s list (except for Texas) “have indicated that they will either revise their PSD rules by January 2, 2011 or very shortly thereafter, or accept a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) that will give EPA authority to issue the GHG portion of PSD permits until state rules are revised." This provides some assurance that sources required to apply PSD controls to their GHG emissions will be able to obtain the necessary permits and avoid construction delays. NACAA’s state-by-state summary is available here.
 

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This post was written by David Wagner.

Please join us for our next quarterly report on climate change from 12 to 1 pm on Tuesday, September 28. In this one-hour teleseminar, Larry Demase, Jennifer Smokelin, Todd Maiden and David Wagner will provide an update on significant international, national and state issues concerning climate change and the future of greenhouse gas (GHG) regulation. Following up on Congress' failure to pass energy and climate legislation over the summer, our topics include:

• A review of two USEPA proposed rules that would help ensure USEPA’s implementation of permitting requirements for GHGs, set to take effect in January 2011. The first proposed rule identifies State Implementation Plans that do not currently apply certain requirements to GHG emitting sources, and requires them to be modified. In the second rule, EPA is proposing a Federal Implementation Plan that will apply in any state that cannot (or does not) revise its state plan by January 2011.
• A discussion on the likelihood that California's Proposition 23 will pass in November (which would postpone implementation of California's Global Warming Solutions Act, aka "AB 32"), an assessment of the true scope of Proposition 23, and practical implications for California businesses.
• A discussion on the United Nations halting issuance of carbon credits for Chinese Clean Development Mechanisms.
• An update on stalled Congressional action with regard to climate regulation.

To register for the teleseminar, please click here.

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This post was written by David Wagner.

To follow up from earlier posts, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rescheduled the public hearing on its proposed rule to establish a Federal Implementation Plan that would take over permitting programs in states that do not meet federal requirements. The hearing will be held on September 14, 2010 in Arlington, VA and logistical details are here. We’ve discussed this proposed rule and a related proposal requiring 13 states to revise their State Implementation Plans in some detail in this recent post.

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This post was written by Jennifer Smokelin and David Wagner.

On August 23, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) postponed the public hearing on its plan to take over greenhouse gas (GHG) permitting programs related to construction or modification projects. The hearing was scheduled to be held in Arlington, VA on August 25, 2010, and was delayed because the draft rule has not yet been published in the Federal Register. USEPA has not set a new date for the hearing. As we discussed in a blog post last week, USEPA has proposed two rules to fill gaps in 13 state permitting programs that do not allow for the regulation of GHG emissions from industrial sources. The first proposed rule seeks to allow states that are not prepared to regulate GHGs to revise their State Implementation Plans. The second rule outlines USEPA's plan to establish a Federal Implementation Plan that would take over permitting programs in states that do not meet the requirements by next January, when USEPA’s Tailoring Rule would be in effect.

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