The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is rushing to put two key emissions regulations in place by the end of March 2010. These regulations include greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks and a first-time “tailoring rule” on emissions from industrial sources.
A broad spectrum of stakeholders is skeptical about the EPA’s path forward. Nearly 1,000 manufacturers have signed a petition urging EPA not to impose new mandates on industrial facilities. In addition, 30 states have also weighed in with EPA, urging federal regulators to exercise caution before imposing new rules on “stationary sources” through the tailoring rule.
The EPA needs to slow down and let Congress handle this issue. Please add your digital signature to the below letter and tell the EPA that even state regulators are troubled by the dramatic expansion of the Clean Air Act. EPA officials expect to release a tailoring rule no later than March 2010, so please act today!
Letter to the EPA:
The Honorable Lisa Jackson
EPA Administrator
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
SUBJECT: EPA GREEN HOUSE GAS (GHG) REGULATORY RULEMAKING PROGRAM
Dear Administrator Jackson:
We, the undersigned, are writing to express our continued concern with the EPA’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the significant impact of these actions on manufacturing jobs. In less than one year, the EPA has finalized an endangerment finding, proposed a light-duty vehicle GHG emission standard and issued the first-ever rule to address GHG emissions from a wide range of stationary sources. The EPA is poised to finalize both the light-duty vehicle and PSD tailoring rules by March 2010 – at which time all affected stationary sources will immediately be required to obtain permits in order to modify or build new facilities.
These regulations will impact the manufacturing industry’s ability to initiate new projects and expand operations at a time when jobs and the economy are the most important issue facing our nation. We are very concerned that the EPA is rushing this regulation forward without considering the full economic impacts on the manufacturing industry.
At least 29 states and the National Association of Clean Air Agencies have expressed concern that the PSD tailoring rule does not give them sufficient time to modify their own laws to distinguish between larger and smaller sources and have urged EPA to adjust the effective compliance date.
We call on the EPA to reconsider its conclusion that emissions from stationary sources should be controlled at this time and to ensure the following:
- The EPA needs to gather more public input to ensure any final GHG regulations do not have significant negative economic impacts on the U.S. manufacturing industry, including the ability to obtain permits without delay.
- It is critically important that there is “certainty” in the permitting process and that there are NO permit delays associated with GHG regulations.
Given the current economic environment, new facilities and expansion projects that will retain and create new jobs and help the economy simply cannot be delayed – or worse, cancelled – as a result of a long, drawn out administrative permitting process.
Sincerely,
Undersigned manufacturers
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