| EPA seeking climate-change comments
Agency moving toward more emissions caps
(Nov. 12, 2008) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking for comments on proposals to help determine whether or not carbon emissions constitute an endangerment to the environment and public health.
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Businesses can submit comments to the EPA’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on the question through November 28.
This could lay the groundwork for putting the EPA in the business of regulating carbon emissions under a variety of programs under the Clean Air Act (CAA). This latest action is a response to last year’s Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA that characterized carbon as a pollutant under the CAA, and charged the EPA with determining whether or not carbon emissions constitute an “endangerment.”
A finding that carbon emissions constitute endangerment could lead to emissions limits in individual permits and other measures that could significantly affect U.S. industrial activity.
The Obama administration is expected to move forward on the endangerment issue based in large part on the type of input the EPA receives. Connecticut is already under some of the most stringent air quality regulations in the United States, and the business community believes that the CAA is not the proper tool with which to implement a federal climate policy.
To submit comments to the EPA, go to www.nam.org and use the “Contact EPA” link. For more information, contact CBIA’s Eric Brown at 860-244-1926 or eric.brown@cbia.com.
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