EPA Delays Planned GHG Emissions Rules Until January

EPA said it was delaying until January 2011 plans to introduce Clean Air Act rules for GHG emissions from plants and other stationary sources, Reuters reported. The agency also planned to determine the emissions level at which the rules will apply during this spring. EPA Administration Lisa Jackson called the delay "a common sense plan for phasing in the protections of the Clean Air Act" because "it gives large facilities the time they need to innovate, governments the time to prepare to cut greenhouse gases."

EPA declared that all Clean Air Act permits issued after the rules take effect will restrict GHG emissions, no matter when the permit applications were filed. Former EPA air head Jeff Holmstead criticized that plan because "it's not whatever requirements apply when they finally decide to give you your permit," E&E News PM reported.

National Association of Clean Air Agencies Executive Director Bill Becker commented of the delay: "Providing nine additional months for states to revise their clean air laws and regulations will enable these agencies to closely align their programs with the federal permitting rules, thereby assuring a smooth and rational transition to the daunting but important challenges of regulating greenhouse gases from industrial facilities."

- Related stories also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg.