Earth Equity News

EPA Piecing Together Regulatory Framework for Greenhouse Gas Rules. By Robin Bravender, Greenwire, March 8, 2010. "U.S. EPA has submitted the first piece of its suite of greenhouse gas rules to the White House for review, a signal that the agency is on schedule to finalize its first regulations to curb the heat-trapping emissions. EPA sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget last Thursday its final reconsideration of the George W. Bush administration's 'Johnson memo,' a determination from former EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson about when the government must begin to regulate industrial facilities' greenhouse gas emissions. That decision is seen as a critical policy to have in place before the agency issues its final greenhouse gas rule for tailpipe emissions. The agency is expected to finalize the auto standards -- slated to come in tandem with the Transportation Department's corporate average fuel efficiency (CAFE) standards -- by March 31. Once greenhouse gases are 'subject to regulation' under the Clean Air Act, the agency will also be required to regulate stationary sources of the emissions."