October 30, 2009
On September 30, 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its proposed “tailoring rule” and outlined its regulations for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from large industrial facilities while establishing a process to begin regulation of smaller plants.
The EPA proposes to issue permits under its so-called “Prevention of Significant Deterioration” program, in which facilities such as manufacturing plants, power plants and refineries would be required to demonstrate they are using the best technologies to minimize GHG emissions.
This proposed rule is the EPA’s first step toward regulating carbon emissions from large stationary sources that emit more than 25,000 tons of GHG. It also allows the EPA to immediately begin considering lowering the threshold of GHG emissions at their discretion, further expanding the organization’s scope to regulate hospitals, libraries and even American homes.
For a manufacturer, it could mean doing something as simple as adding a “plant shift” to the schedule that would trigger EPA regulation.
Congress, not the EPA, is the appropriate authority to deal with such a complex regulatory issue that needs and deserves transparency and rigorous public debate.
The EPA’s proposed rule is subject to a 60-day comment period, which ends on December 28, 2009. We urge you to take quick action to help us stop EPA from moving forward with these regulations and to let Congress continue to debate the issue by signing the letter at www.nam.org/epa.
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