Transcript On the Right Track? - William Mitchell College of Law

U.S. EPA
Actions to Address Climate
Change
Robert A. Kaplan
Regional Counsel, Region 5
Energy and the Environment
Conference
March 14, 2012
On the Right Track?
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The Administrator’s Principles to Guide EPA
Actions
– Common Sense
– Cost-Effectiveness
– Clarity, Achievability and Flexibility
– Transparency
– Focus on the largest emitters
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GHG Endangerment Finding
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U.S. Supreme Court Decision
GHG
Endangerment
Finding
First GHG
Standards for
Passenger
Vehicles
Clean Air Act
Process for
Stationary
Sources
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By 2010
• U.S. EPA had:
– Finalized GHG standards for passenger
vehicles
– Proposed GHG standards for medium
and heavy truck tailpipes
– Issued GHG permitting requirements
for smokestacks
– Started collecting GHG data under the
Mandatory GHG Reporting Program
– Increased use of renewable fuels in
motor vehicles
– Launched Global Alliance for Clean
Cookstoves with UN Foundation and
other partners
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By 2011
• U.S. EPA has:
– Collected first round of GHG
emissions data from large stationary
sources
– Issued first GHG standards for
medium and heavy duty trucks
– Issued 17 GHG permits for
stationary sources
– Proposed second GHG standards
for 2017-2025 passenger vehicles
– Begun work on first GHG standards
for power plants and petroleum
refineries
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First GHG Standards for Passenger
Vehicles
• Issued April 2010 by EPA and DOT
• Result of cooperation between
automakers, federal government and
states
• Applies to model year 2012-2016 cars
and light trucks
• Increases fuel economy by
approximately five percent every year
• Sets an average emissions level of 250
grams of CO2 per mile in model year
2016—equivalent to 35.5 mpg
• Reduces greenhouse gas emissions
by nearly 950 million metric tons
• Conserves 1.8 billion barrels of oil
• Saves about $3,000 per vehicle
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GHG Standards for 2017-2025
Passenger Vehicles
• Proposed in November 2011
• Applies to passenger cars,
light-duty trucks, and medium
duty passenger vehicles
(including all SUVs)
• Saves approximately 4 billion
barrels of oil
• Reduces GHG emissions by
2 billion metric tons
• Anticipated $5,200 to $6,600
in fuel savings per vehicle
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First GHG Standards for Heavyand Medium-Duty Trucks
• Finalized August 2011
• Applies to model year 2014-2018
• Reduces oil consumption by a
project 530 million barrels
• Reduces GHGs by approximately
270 million metric tons
• Saves American businesses that
own and operate these vehicles
approximate $50 billion in fuel
costs
• Reduces other pollutants such as
particle pollution
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U.S. OIL CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR, 2009
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LIGHT-DUTY VEHICLE FUEL ECONOMY STANDARDS, 1978-2025
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Educating U.S. Consumers
New Fuel Economy label on some 2012
vehicles and all 2013 vehicles
• Develop new labels for
advanced technology
vehicles (PHEVS and
EVs) and update current
label
• Provide an estimate of
how much fuel or
electricity it takes to
drive 100 miles
• Give consumers new
ways to compare energy
use and cost
• Easy to read rating on
how a model compares
to all others for smog
emissions and GHGs
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Greenhouse Gases from Stationary Sources
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EPA determination of health
and public welfare risks related
to GHG emissions from vehicles
leads to implementation of
Clean Air Act for stationary
sources
– Beginning January 2, 2011
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Clean Air Act recognizes that
there will be continual
improvement in environmental
control technology, the need for
national consistency, and
provisions for case-by-case
determinations.
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Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD): Permitting Steps
under the Tailoring Rule
PSD is aimed at reducing the amount of pollution added to the atmosphere and applies only
to those facilities that are newly built or substantially modified
Step 1 January 2, 2011 to June 30, 2011:
Sources already subject to PSD “anyway”
New sources: 75,000 tpy CO2e
Modification: 75,000 tpy
Step 2 July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2013:
Continue Step 1 sources plus other large GHG emissions sources
New source: 100,000 tpy
Modification: 75,000 tpy
Step 3 Rulemaking proposed February 24, 2012, Final July 2012
EPA has proposed to maintain current thresholds and streamline permitting processes
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D.C. Circuit – Climate Change
Litigation
• On Feb 28th and 29th, the U.S. Court of
Appeals- D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in
legal challenges to EPA's Endangerment
Finding and GHG regulations issued under
the Clean Air Act for passenger vehicles and
CAA permitting for stationary sources.
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GHG Emissions from the Industrial
Sector
Percentage by Sector
Cement
2%
Iron and Steel
2%
Petrochemical
2%
Electricity
Generation
63%
Petroleum
Refineries
6%
Pulp and Paper
2%
Onshore Oil and
Gas Production
4%
Other
4%
Other Oil and Gas
Systems
3%
Unspecified
Stationary
Combustion
12%
Source: Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gas
Emissions Final Rule (September 2009)
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Greenhouse Gas Monitoring and
Reporting Rule
• Directed by Congress in 2008 Appropriations Act
• Will provide a better understanding of where U.S. GHG
emissions are coming from
• Applies to facilities emitting large quantities of GHGs
• Covers an estimated 85 percent of total U.S. GHG
emissions
• Data collection began in January 2010
• Received data from more than 7,000 sources in
September 2011
• Public release of data in January 2012
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2010 GHG Data- Quick Summary
• Reports from over 6,700 entities
• Power plants are largest stationary source of direct
emissions- 2,324 MMTCe
• Refineries are second at 183 MMTCe
• CO2 emissions-95%; CH4 emissions- 4%; N2O and Fgases- 1%
• 100 facilities reported over 7 MMTCe including 96
power plants, 2 iron and steel mills, 2 refineries
• 2010 data accounts for roughly 80 percent of total U.S.
emissions.
– This percentage reflects both upstream suppliers and direct emitters.
– Among the data not covered are GHG emissions from smaller
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sources, and from agricultural and land-use activities.
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Ongoing Work to Address Climate
Change
• U.S. EPA will continue to:
– Promote common-sense strategies that encourage
investment in energy efficiency and updated technologies
– Set clear, achievable standards while maintaining
maximum flexibility on how to get there
– Seek input from citizens, industry, affected entities, other
stakeholders, as well as our partners
– Set the standards that make the most sense – focusing on
getting the most meaningful results through the most costeffective measures
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Tangled up in green tape
The EPA, Congress, activists, the courts and
power companies themselves all share the
blame for the chaotic nature of environmental
regulation in America
Feb 18th 2012 | WASHINGTON, DC | from the print edition
PITY the engineers responsible for keeping America’s coal-fired power plants
up to standard. Late last year a court halted the adoption of new regulations
on interstate air pollution that would have affected lots of them—just two days
before they were due to go into force. The suspended regulations, in turn,
were themselves a replacement for an earlier set of rules which had been
thrown out by the courts in 2008. The older lot have now been temporarily
reinstated, while the court hears various challenges to the new ones. What
the outcome will be is anyone’s guess.
SOURCE: http://www.economist.com/node/21547804
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In the United States, power plants emit…
Sources of Total Mercury
Fish Consumption Advisories for Mercury
are Everywhere
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“For over a decade, companies have
recognized that the industry would
need to install controls to comply
with the act’s air toxicity
requirements, and the technology
exists to cost effectively control such
emissions, including mercury and
acid gases.… Contrary to the claims
that the EPA’s agenda will have
negative economic consequences,
our companies’ experience
complying with air quality
regulations demonstrates that
regulations can yield important
economic benefits, including job
creation, while maintaining
reliability.”
“Contrary to claims
that the EPA’s agenda
will have negative
economic
consequences, our
companies’
experience complying
with air quality
regulations
demonstrates that
regulations can yield
important economic
benefits, including job
creation, while
maintaining reliability.”
THANK YOU!
Robert Kaplan
EPA Region 5
Regional Counsel
[email protected]
312-886-1499
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