EPA moved closer to permitting greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions when it published the “GHG Tailoring Rule” on June 3, 2010. The GHG Tailoring Rule was subsequently challenged by both environmental and business interests, making it anybody’s guess how the legal challenges will play out in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court. As the legal challenges proceed, however, state and local air agencies face the challenge of implementing the GHG Tailoring Rule requirements to permit GHGs using the Title V and PSD programs.
Although recent headlines have documented a few states’ well-publicized resistance to implementing EPA’s GHG Tailoring Rule (e.g., the Texas challenge was discussed by the New York Times ), the majority of states and local air agencies are moving forward with implementation strategies to regulate GHGs. In many cases, the authority to carry out the GHG Tailoring Rule requires statutory and/or regulatory revisions based on the nuances of each jurisdiction’s existing air permitting programs.
Fortunately, a “roadmap” for the various agencies’ efforts was recently published by the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (“NACAA”), formerly known as STAPPA and ALAPCO. Specifically, on September 15, 2010, NACAA published a report titled “States Moving Full Speed Ahead on Greenhouse Gas Permitting.” NACAA’s summary identifies various air agencies’ efforts to comply with the GHG Tailoring Rule requirements, listing the specific approaches taken across much of the country. As such, NACAA’s summary provides a useful tool for tracking the various jurisdictions’ efforts to implement the GHG Tailoring Rule.
Kurt A. Kissling, Esq.
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