Milling & Baking News - December 15, 2009 - 27

Washington 

E.P.A.: Greenhouse gases may be
regulated under Clean Air Act
WASHINGTON - Lisa P. Jackson,
administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, announced Dec.
7 her agency's finding that greenhouse gas emissions endangered the
public's health and welfare and may
be regulated by the E.P.A. under the
Clean Air Act (C.A.A.). In a separate but related finding, the E.P.A.
determined greenhouse gas emissions by new light-duty vehicles
contribute to the endangerment of
the public.
The endangerment finding itself
does not impose any requirements
on industry or other entities, but
minimally, in combination with
the finding relating to vehicles, it
will allow the E.P.A. to finalize the
greenhouse gas emission standards
for light-duty vehicles it proposed
jointly with the Department of
Transportation on Sept. 19.
The endangerment finding also
raised the prospect that should
Congress not pass climate change
legislation, the E.P.A., on its own
authority under the C.A.A., might
develop regulations requiring actions to reduce U.S. emissions of
greenhouse gases.
The endangerment finding was
announced as the United Nations
world climate change summit was
getting under way in Copenhagen,
Denmark, a fact not missed by advocates and opponents of the administration's climate change policy.
"This is a clear message to Copenhagen of the Obama administration's commitment to address global
climate change and a clear message
to Congress of the importance of
passing comprehensive climate and
energy legislation," said Senator
John Kerry of Massachusetts, chairman of the Senate Committee on
Foreign Relations and co-sponsor of
the climate change bill under debate
in the Senate.
"If Congress does not pass legislation dealing with climate change,
the administration is more than
justified to use the E.P.A. to impose
new regulations," Mr. Kerry continued. "Imposed regulations by
definition will not include the job
protections and investment incentives we are proposing in the Senate today. Given the potential for
agency regulation, those who now
aim to grind the legislative process
28 / December 15, 2009 Milling & Baking News

to a halt would later come running
to Congress to secure the kinds of
incentives we can pass today. Industry needs the certainty that comes
with congressional action on this
vital issue."
Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, ranking Republican member
of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and

announcement "means we arrive
at the climate talks in Copenhagen
with a clear demonstration of our
commitment to facing this global
challenge." At the same time, the
E.P.A. asserted it did not rush to issue the finding, which the agency
said had been in the works since
April 2007, when the Supreme
Court ruled greenhouse gases are
air pollutants covered by the C.A.A.
The Court at that time also directed
the E.P.A. to determine whether or
not emissions of greenhouse gases

'The administration's endangerment finding
will lead to a wave of new regulations and
bureaucracy that will wreak havoc on the
American economy, destroy millions of
jobs and force consumers to pay more for
electricity and gasoline.'
- Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma

outspoken skeptic about the science asserting climate change, said,
"The administration's endangerment finding will lead to a wave of
new regulations and bureaucracy
that will wreak havoc on the American economy, destroy millions of
jobs and force consumers to pay
more for electricity and gasoline."
The National Association of
Manufacturers, while working with
Congress to develop "economically
and environmentally sound climate
action legislation," was adamant in
its opposition to E.P.A. regulating
greenhouse gases under the C.A.A.
Keith McCoy, the NAM's vice-president of energy and resource policy,
said, "Unemployment is hovering
at 10%, and many manufacturers
are struggling to stay in business. It
is doubtful that the endangerment
finding will achieve its stated goal,
but it is certain to come at a huge
cost to the economy."
Jack Gerard, president of the
American Petroleum Institute, asserted, "This action poses a threat
to every American family and
business if it leads to regulation of
greenhouses gases under the C.A.A.
Such regulation would be intrusive, inefficient and costly. There
was no compelling deadline that
forced E.P.A.'s hand on this decision. It is a decision that is clearly
politically motivated to coincide
with the start of the Copenhagen
climate summit."
Ms. Jackson acknowledged the

from new motor vehicles cause or
contribute to air pollution that may
reasonably be expected to endanger
public health or welfare.
In December 2007, in response
to the court's decision, the E.P.A.
sent a draft proposal to the White
House Office of Management and
Budget finding that concentrations
of six key greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere endangered the public
welfare and that emissions from
new motor vehicles contribute to
the problem. The Bush administration did not consider the proposal, and the E.P.A. subsequently
withdrew it.
In July 2008, the E.P.A. issued an
advance notice of proposed rulemaking (A.N.P.R.) regarding regulating greenhouses gases under the
C.A.A., but further progress on the
issue was not made until the new
administration was inaugurated.
In April 2009, the E.P.A. under Ms.
Jackson issued proposed findings
for regulating greenhouse gases
under the C.A.A. that updated the
A.N.P.R. issued the previous July
and took into consideration public
comments on that notice. A 60-day
comment period on the proposed
findings was completed on June
23. More than 380,000 comments
were posted.
The final endangerment finding
was accompanied by a final technical support document, an 11-volume
response to comments document
and other supporting details. MBN
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Milling & Baking News - December 15, 2009

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