EPA Tailoring Rule May Slip To May
Date: 15-Apr-10
Country: US
Author: Ayesha Rascoe
U.S. Energy Protection Agency may not issue rules determining which factories and power plants are subject to carbon regulations until May, the head of the agency said on Wednesday.
The agency had hoped to release its so-called tailoring rule by the end of April, but EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said the regulations could easily slip to May.
"We don't have a court deadline so my attitude is always we want to get it right," Jackson told Reuters in an interview. "April or May is still our target."
The new rules would "tailor" the emission thresholds to ensure the agency's carbon rules would apply only to major emitters, such as power plants and factories making glass or cement. Otherwise, the Clean Air Act would require regulation of smaller businesses, overwhelming the agency's resources.
The Obama administration has said it would prefer Congress pass legislation addressing global warming, but with the climate bill stalled in the Senate the EPA is moving forward with its regulations.
Jackson said the tailoring rule would allow EPA to phase in new regulations slowly and avoid regulating places such as coffee shops or dairy farms, a situation that critics warn could seriously damage the economy.
"When it comes out, you'll see that we're making good on our word. This is going to be a...steady gradual approach to dealing through the Clean Air Act with carbon pollution and greenhouse gas pollution," she added.
The EPA has yet to finalize the emissions threshold for the rule. In the past, the agency said it would only likely consider regulating plants that emit 75,000 tonnes per year or more of carbon dioxide.
Despite the tailoring rules, some lawmakers are still pushing measures that would block or delay the agency's carbon regulations.
Industries have also filed petitions in court questioning the agency's decision to regulate the gases.
(Editing by Marguerita Choy)
