EPA is taking steps this month to regulate greenhouse gases from vehicles and fuels under the Clean Air Act. However, this rule will have a very serious and costly unintended consequence: when an air pollutant is regulated under the Act (even if only for fuels and vehicles), it will trigger "Prevention of Significant Deterioration" (PSD) permitting authority for all "major" stationary sources (i.e. buildings) that potentially emit more than 250 tons of the pollutant per year. Congress recognized that the renewable fuels title of the energy bill would have done the same thing, but corrected this problem in the bill with a savings clause. However, this "fix" only cured the energy bill, and did not solve the larger problem that will be created by EPA's vehicles and fuels rule will create: major sources will not be able to commence any construction on their buildings without obtaining a PSD permit, a process that typically takes years and, depending on the size of the project, can cost millions of dollars.
What is a major source? For CO2 purposes, virtually everything. The office building you are working in, or the apartment building you live in. And maybe the burger joint down the street. Even Al Gore's house!
If EPA regulates CO2 without a fix in place, construction in the U.S. could come to a screeching halt.
Below please find the letter that we have submitted to Congress on the issue. If you have questions or comments, please contact Ross Eisenberg at (202) 463-5663 or
reisenberg@uschamber.com.
Joint Industry Letter to Congress on PSD
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