Greenhouse Gases (GHG)

Air Division

Mike Bates – Chief - (501) 682-0730

ADEQ Greenhouse Gas Regulation Implementation

ADEQ is proposing amendments to Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission Regulations No. 18, No.19, and No. 26. The amendments are a direct result of EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule (GHG Tailoring Rule), which carries forward the regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) under the Clean Air Act (CAA). After the decision rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA in which GHGs were found to fall under the definition of “air pollutant” under the plain language of the CAA, the EPA authored the Endangerment Finding, the Cause and Contribute Finding, the Johnson Memo, the Johnson Memo Reconsideration, the Light Duty Vehicle Rule, and the GHG Tailoring Rule, all of which called for the regulation of GHG as an “air pollutant” “subject to regulation” under the CAA or further detailed the regulation of GHGs under the CAA. Because of the above findings, memos, and rules, GHG emissions are covered by the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Program as of January 2, 2011, and will be covered by the Title V Operating Permit Program on July 1, 2011. The CAA requires that 100 and 250 tons per year thresholds be established for major stationary sources of air pollution. These thresholds were designed for the regulation of traditional air pollutants, before GHGs were categorized as an air pollutant. These threshold limits are impractical for GHG regulating and permitting purposes. The GHG Tailoring Rule raises the tons per year thresholds to a more practical limit for GHG emissions and outlines when permits under the PSD and Title V Operating Permit programs are required for new and existing industrial facilities.

Following the finalization of the GHG Tailoring Rule, EPA promulgated the Action to Ensure Authority to Issue Permits Under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration Program to Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Finding of Substantial Inadequacy and SIP Call; Final Rule, (GHG SIP Call Rule), which enabled EPA to determine that the SIPs of thirteen States, including Arkansas, were “substantially inadequate.” Under the GHG SIP Call Rule, deadlines for findings of substantial inadequacy and State Implementation Plan (SIP) Calls were set. Under this Rule, states were required to make any changes needed to their regulations and SIPs to make GHG permitting federally enforceable by January 2, 2011. ADEQ responded to this rule stating that Arkansas would not be able to meet the January 2, 2011, deadline. ADEQ proposed the earliest possible SIP submittal deadline of December 22, 2010, to allow EPA to issue a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) for Arkansas that applies only to GHGs. Use of the earliest possible SIP submittal deadline makes it possible for the FIP to be in place as quickly as possible to mitigate any potential permitting delays. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §7410(c), EPA issued a FIP. The FIP gives EPA the responsibility of issuing the GHG portion of PSD permits to sources located in Arkansas while ADEQ undertakes the regulation revisions process and until Arkansas’s required SIP revisions are approved by EPA. As part of the SIP approval process, EPA must approve Arkansas’s regulation changes. For ADEQ to issue all portions of permits, including GHG emissions, and for such permits to be federally enforceable, amendments to Regulations No. 18, No. 19, and No. 26 must be made and approved.

ADEQ’s current proposed amendments to Regulations No. 18, No. 19, and No. 26 serve to incorporate the portions of the GHG Tailoring Rule that are needed for ADEQ to be able to fully permit GHG emitting sources . The proposed amendments are outlined in the fact sheet link below. More details can be found under ADEQ’s DRAFTS of Proposed Regulation Changes webpage.