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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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EPA Limits Rules for State|Greenhouse Gas Permits

WASHINGTON (CN) - States will no longer impose Title V operating permits on greenhouse gas polluters that emit less than 100,000 tons per year of pollutants, according to a plan issued by the Environmental Protection Agency to implement its final Tailoring Rule which redefined "major sources" of pollution as those that emit 100,000 tons per year.

Until Jan. 3, polluters issuing more than 100 tons per year of airborne pollutants had been considered "major sources" of greenhouse gases triggering Title V permit requirements.

The change in thresholds was announced by the agency last year in its so called Tailoring Rule which was issued in direct response to its Endangerment Finding which recognized the health risks of greenhouse gases and required the agency to begin to regulate their emissions directly.

The Tailoring Rule allows smaller polluters to be shielded from these new regulations because, according to the agency, the administrative burden would overwhelm the states, which are responsible for issuing Title V permits under the CAA.

Title V of the Clean Air Act requires that major sources obtain an operating permit that consolidates all CAA requirements into a single document and requires that new facilities and ones seeking to increase their capacities must apply the most up to date and widely available technology for controlling greenhouse gas emissions.

As a result of the agency's action, the parts of all previously approved State Implementation Plans -documents that show a state is in compliance with, or how it intends to come into compliance with the CAA - dealing with Title V permitting must be resubmitted by each state to account for the change in the definition of, and regulations for "major sources."

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