This is a quick history of the requirements for stationary source permitting of greenhouse gas emissions, with specific details about the lone-star state holdout - Texas.
1. Texas and
Greenhouse
Gas Emissions History of
the GHG
Permitting
Process
in Texas
Presented by
2. This is a short history of greenhouse gas (GHG)
permitting requirements in Texas.
3. Month Year
Weโll do this more or less
chronologically. Look here for the
timestamp as we go along.
This is a short history of greenhouse gas (GHG)
permitting requirements in Texas.
5. Seven years agoโฆ
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that GHGs are air pollutants
covered by the Clean Air Act.
April 2007
6. May 2010
Three years laterโฆ
EPA established that the
Prevention of Significant
Deterioration (PSD) and Title V
permitting programs would
apply to GHGs
7. But there was a problemโฆ
For any pollutant, the trigger levels for the
PSD and Title V programs were set at
(potential) emissions of 100 and 250 tpy,
respectivelyโฆ
8. โฆthese levels are peanuts for
GHGs, which are typically in
the hundreds of
thousands of TPY.
9. To avoid having
almost every
source trigger
PSD and Title V,
EPA created the
GHG Tailoring
Ruleโฆ
June 2010
10. โฆit was billed as a โcommon sense approach to
permitting GHGs under PSD and Title Vโ.
11. The intent was to permit the sources that
contribute 70% of the GHG emissions first.
13. It was a multi-step
method to โtailorโ the
PSD and Title V
applicability criteria.
14. STEP 1
Regulate so-called โanyway sourcesโ, i.e., they
would be a major source even without GHG
emissions.
Typically power plants, industrial boilers,
cement plants, and oil refineries.
15. STEP 2
Regulate sources considered major due to GHG
emissions only, regardless of emission levels of
other pollutants.
16. STEP 2
The PSD/Title V trigger criteria for Step 2 was set
to 100,000/75,000 TPY, respectively
17. STEP 3
A third step was promised by July 2012. It would
potentially lower the Step 2 criteria if EPA
thought the states could handle the extra
sources needing permitted.
18. July 2012
Flash-forward two yearsโฆ
EPA decided the
states werenโt
ready, so the
100k/75k limits
stood.
19. December 2010
Meanwhile, in 2010โฆ
EPA decided that 13 states, including Texas, did
not have State Implementation Plans (SIPs) that
addressed the GHG requirements to the letter of
the law.
20. December 2010
So they issued a โSIP callโ that required these
states to re-issue their plans.
22. December 2010
To avoid interruption of GHG permitting in
Texas, EPA took over the process for them on an
interim basis.
23. April 2011
Several months laterโฆ
At the end of the interim period, EPA decided
that they would continue permitting GHGs in
Texas and issued a Federal Implementation Plan
(FIP) for doing so.
24. The FIP would be in force until Texas revised
their SIP to regulate GHGs in accordance with
the CAA
25. June 2013
Two years laterโฆ
TX House Bill 788
authorized TCEQ
to permit for GHG
emissionsโฆ
26. June 2013
Two years laterโฆ
TX House Bill 788
authorized TCEQ
to permit for GHG
emissionsโฆ
โto the extent required by federal law.โ
27. HB 788 required
rewriting several
chapters of the Texas
Administrative Code,
which would take
some time
28. Until then, EPA remained the permitting
authority for GHGs under the FIP.
29. February 2014
Eight months laterโฆ
EPA and Texas come to
agreementโฆEPA grants GHG
permitting authority to Texas.
30. March 2014
And finallyโฆ
TCEQ rules for GHGs adopted
(effective April 17, 2014)
31. June 2014
In UARG versus EPA,
Supreme Court rules
that EPA cannot treat
GHGs as โpollutantsโ.
But thenโฆ
32. June 2014
The Tailoring Rule
collapsesโฆ
A source cannot be
classified as MAJOR
solely by virtue of
GHG emissions
33. June 2014
But PSD/Title V limitations for GHGs still stand
if a source is considered major due to
emissions levels of other pollutants.
34. Implementation of this ruling now awaits
guidance from the D.C. Circuit court. Until then,
nothing is certain. Howeverโฆ
35. July 2014
EPA recently
issued a
memorandum
stating their
preliminary
views on how
things may
proceed
36. The Step 1 โanyway sourcesโ may still have to
comply with any PSD Best Available Control
Technology (BACT) requirements for GHGs
37. Whether PSD BACT requirements for Step 2
sources are upheld is an open question for now.
38. Meanwhile, EPA has asked each of the states to
review their GHG permitting requirements in light
of the court ruling.
41. Thanks for
your time!
For more information on GHG measurements and
reporting, contact CleanAir today.
800-991-3300
contact@cleanair.com
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