After considerable research and about 450,000 public comments, the Environmental Protection Agency has established thresholds for greenhouse gases. The EPA yesterday announced a final rule to address greenhouse gases emissions.
The approach will consider large facilities such as power plants and other stationary sources, which are responsible for 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. This new phased-in approach will begin in January 2011. Additionally, it will protect millions of small sources from the Clean Air Act requirements.
If a large facility increases their emissions by 75,000 tons a year, it will be required to report greenhouse gases in their permits. The rule addresses six different groups of greenhouse gases.
This means more work for EPA because it is estimated there will be around 900 more permits to review. However, this extra work will protect Americans’ health and welfare.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said: “There is no denying our responsibility to protect the planet for our children and grandchildren. It’s long past time we unleashed our American ingenuity and started building the efficient, prosperous clean energy economy of the future.â€
