EPA argues it does not have authority to control GHG releases

EPA argues it does not have authority to control GHG releases

New York (Platts)--26Oct2006

The Department of Justice filed a brief on Tuesday with the Supreme Court on
behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency outlining its position that the
agency does not have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the
Clean Air Act.

The court ruling, if it sides with states and environmental groups that claim
EPA may control GHG, could have serious consequences for the coal industry.

The case, Massachusetts vs. EPA, No. 05-1120, involves a challenge to an
administrative decision by EPA on whether it should regulate GHG emissions.
EPA denied a rulemaking petition from states and environmental groups seeking
regulation of emissions of carbon dioxide and three other GHG emissions from
new motor vehicles.

The petition alleged that GHG emissions from motor vehicles contributed to
global climate change and could be regulated by EPA. EPA's position is seen as
a signal that it won't regulate other sources of GHG, including coal-fired
power plants.

Scott Segal of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council doesn't think the
court is going to order CO2 to be regulated, nor does he think it will say
that's what Congress meant when it developed the Clean Air Act.

"If EPA found it had to regulate CO2 for mobile sources, it would set a
dangerous precedent for stationary sources," Segal told Platts on Wednesday.
"The use of coal to generate electricity is affordable and an inflexible
carbon policy would be a threat to that. Our position is that there are good
foreign policy reasons to ignore CO2 issues."

ERCC and the CO2 Litigation Group, which represents organizations that would
be affected by CO2 regulation, also filed briefs on Wednesday supporting EPA's
decision.

The CO2 Litigation Group, comprising of 14 trade associations and
organizations like the National Association of Manufacturers, said it does not
agree with the states and environmental groups that Congress adopted or
authorized mandatory measures to regulate GHG under the Clean Air Act.

"Regulatory mechanisms in the Clean Air Act, designed to address adverse
effects of particular emission sources on the ambient air to which humans,
plants, and animals are exposed, are not appropriate for addressing a global
problem believed to be caused by concentrations in the global atmosphere of
substances that are contributed to (and removed from) the atmosphere by a wide
range of human activity and natural processes around the world," the group
said in its brief.

The case is scheduled for oral arguments on November 29.

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