EPA to regulate heavy US emitters
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed that it will only regulate the country’s largest emitters.
This announcement comes a week after the US Court of Appeals upheld an earlier decision that the EPA is obligated to implement new restrictions for heavy emitters under the Clean Air Act.
Only facilities that produce over 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year will be required to meet new efficiency standards.
For the most part this limits the new regulations to a relatively small number of large stationary sources such as power plants and fuel refineries.
However these heavy industries produce almost 70% of total emissions for the entire US.
The EPA considered including smaller emitters under its new permitting program, but ultimately decided that it would be too detrimental to the country’s recovering economy.
Still, industrial leaders see the new regulations as unnecessary rules that will inevitably lead to cost increases.
(7/6/12)