Swamp Stomp
Volume 17, Issue 7
Though the Tailoring Rule was not finalized until May 13, 2010, the reason the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the rule dates back to President George W. Bush’s administration. Under Bush’s term, the Supreme Court ruled that if the EPA designated emissions as a “hazardous air pollutant,” then the EPA was allowed to regulate the pollutant under the Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act states that if more than 10 tons of one hazardous air pollutant or 25 tons of a combination of hazardous air pollutants is or has the potential to be admitted by one source, than that source needs to have a permit from the EPA.
The measurement used for the Clean Air Act was tons not percentages, which is 1,000 times larger than tons. This becomes a problem if a gas like carbon dioxide (CO2) is classified as a hazardous air pollutant because it is measured in percent not tons. Under the Clean Air Act, if CO2 is classified as a hazardous air pollutant, then millions of sources including schools and churches would need to acquire permits. The EPA is not equipped to handle that many requests for permits. The EPA was not overloaded with permit requests under Bush’s administration because they did not classify CO2 as a hazardous air pollutant, so their only permit requests came from big industries.
That was not the case for the Obama administration. The EPA under the Obama administration classified CO2 as a hazardous air pollutant, so they needed to come up with a solution to shrink the number of requests for permits. Thus the controversial Tailoring Rule was created. The Tailoring Rule increased the threshold for sources requiring permits for CO2 and other greenhouses gases to 100-250 tons per year, a hundred times increase to what is required by the Clean Air Act. Additional the Tailoring Rule states that if a source was admitting greenhouse gases and other hazardous air pollutants than they would need a permit if their emissions exceeded 75,000 tons per year. Sources would also need a permit if their greenhouse gas emissions exceeded 100,000 tons per year regardless of the amount of other hazardous air pollutants they emitted.
While this solved the EPA’s problem regarding the number of permit requests they would receive, the new was very controversial. Regulatory agency are not supposed to be able to change laws, they are just supposed to enforce them. The EPA is a regulatory agency and the Clean Air Act is a law. By creating the Tailoring Rule, the EPA is changing the law so that they would not be overrun by the number of permit request they would get. Legal analysts agree that the Tailoring Rule oversteps the EPA’s bounds but the Tailoring Rule is still in effect today.
With a new administration in the White House, the question becomes will the new administration keep or do away with the Tailoring Rule? If they do away with the Tailoring Rule, will the EPA change the classification of CO2 and other greenhouses gases as hazardous air pollutants and if not, how will the EPA deal with the number of permit requests they will receive? At the moment, we will just have to wait and see if the new administration will even address the Tailoring Rule or just let it be.
“Clean Air Act Permitting for Greenhouse Gases.” EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 29 Nov. 2016. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.
“EPA’s “Tailoring” Rule.” Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.