PUBLISHED JUNE 10, 2015
The government is proposing to regulate aircraft emissions
in much the same way as power plants, saying they are a threat to human health
because they contain pollutants that help cause global warming and therefore
should be regulated.
The Environmental Protection Agency announcement Wednesday
clears the way for possible U.S. adoption of international emissions standards,
which are expected to be released next year.
U.S. regulations wouldn't apply to small piston-engine
planes or military aircraft.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N.
agency, has been working for several years on developing global aircraft
emissions standards for the first time.
While negotiations on the standards are still underway,
environmentalists say the standards aren't expected to go into effect until
2020 or afterward -- possibly as late as 2025.
The EPA Administrator is proposing to find that greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions from certain classes of engines used in aircraft contribute
to the air pollution that causes climate change and endangers public health and
welfare under section 231(a) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). The EPA is
not at this time proposing aircraft engine GHG emission standards.
The EPA is also issuing an Advance Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking that provides information on the process for setting an
international CO2 emissions standard for aircraft at the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO), and describes and seeks input on the potential use
of section 231 of the Clean Air Act to adopt and implement the corresponding
international aircraft engine CO2 emissions standard domestically.
The EPA has been engaged in reducing harmful air pollution
from aircraft engines since 1973. Section 231 of the Clean Air Act directs the
EPA to issue standards addressing aircraft engine pollutant emissions, if in
the Administrator’s judgment they cause or contribute to air pollution which
may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.
Under the
Clean Air Act, the EPA consults with the Federal Aviation Administration as we
develop aircraft engine emission stan dards, ensuring that any standards set
do not adversely affect safety or increase noise. Section 232 of the Clean Air
Act then requires that the FAA ensure compliance with the emissions standards
set by the EPA.
The EPA and the FAA have traditionally worked within the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized body of the
United Nations focused on aviation and comprised of 191 member states, to first
establish international emission standards. Subsequently, the EPA has initiated
rulemakings under Clean Air Act section 231 to establish domestic standards
equivalent to ICAO’s standards. Aircraft engine standards for other exhaust
pollutants including hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and
smoke already exist and were developed in accordance with this international
process.
The proposed GHG cause and contribution findings for
aircraft engines are an initial step toward potentially aligning future
international and U.S. standards for CO2 emissions from aircraft engines.
In 2009 the EPA issued findings under Clean Air Act section
202 that GHG emissions from motor vehicles cause or contribute to the air
pollution that causes climate change endangering public health and welfare.
Subsequent to this finding, EPA adopted GHG emission standards for motor
vehicles under section 202 of the Act. We are not reopening or revising our
prior finding under CAA section 202(a) in this proposed action.
To address GHG emissions from aircraft, EPA would first
issue a separate and final finding under section 231 of the Act concluding that
GHGs from aircraft engines contribute to the pollution that causes climate
change thus endangering public health and welfare. In this proposed action, the
EPA relies upon the extensive scientific and technical evidence in the record
supporting the 2009 finding, and builds on it with more recent major scientific
assessments. Since 2009, the science on climate change has strengthened lending
further support to the judgment that GHGs in the atmosphere endanger public
health and welfare for purposes of section 231.
The Administrator’s proposed findings come in response to a
citizen petition submitted by Friends of the Earth, Oceana, the Center for
Biological Diversity, and Earthjustice (Petitioners) requesting that the EPA
issue a GHG endangerment finding and standards under section 231(a) (2)(A) of
the Act for GHG emissions from aircraft engines. Further, the EPA anticipates
that ICAO will adopt a final international aircraft CO2 emissions standard in
February 2016. This proposal and any final GHG endangerment and cause or
contribute findings for aircraft engines are
part of preparing for a possible subsequent domestic rulemaking process to
adopt the corresponding international aircraft CO2 emissions standard under CAA section 231.
Aircraft GHG Emissions
The U.S. transportation sector is a significant contributor
to total U.S. and global anthropogen ic GHG emissions. Aircraft remain the
single largest GHG-emitting transportation source not yet subject to GHG
standards in the U.S.
aircraft emit:
11 percent of GHG emissions from the transportation sector
in the U.S.
3 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions.
29 percent of GHG emissions from all aircraft globally.
0.5 percent of total global GHG emissions.
The EPA Administrator is proposing to find that GHG
emissions from certain classes of engines used primarily in commercial aircraft
contribute to the air pollution that causes climate change and endangers public
health and welfare. Specifically, she proposes to find that GHG concentra
tions in the atmosphere endanger the public health and welfare of current and
future genera tions within the meaning of section 231(a) of the Clean Air Act.
She proposes to make this finding specifically with respect to the same six well-mixed
GHGs -- carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons,
perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride -- that together were defined as the
relevant air pollution in the 2009 Endangerment Finding under section 202(a) of
the Clean Air Act. The Administrator is also proposing to find that GHG
pollutant emissions from certain classes of engines used in aircraft are
contributing to this mix of GHGs in the atmosphere.
The Administrator proposes to find that GHG emissions from
engines used in U.S. subsonic jet aircraft with a maximum takeoff mass (MTOM)
greater than 5,700 kilograms and in subsonic propeller driven (e.g., turboprop)
aircraft with a MTOM greater than 8,618 kilograms, contrib ute to the GHG air
pollution that endangers public health and welfare.
Examples of covered
aircraft would include smaller jet aircraft such as the Cessna Citation CJ2+
and the Embraer E170, up to and including the largest jet aircraft - the Airbus
A380 and the Boeing 747. Other examples of covered aircraft would include
larger turboprop aircraft, such as the ATR 72 and the Bombardier Q400.
The Administrator is not at this time proposing a
contribution finding for GHG emissions from engines used in military aircraft
or smaller aircraft such as smaller turboprops, smaller jet aircraft,
piston-engine aircraft, and helicopters.
Over the past five years, the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO), a specialized body of the United Nations with 191 member
states, has been working with the aviation indus try and environmental groups
to develop a coordinated, international CO2 emissions standard for aircraft.
EPA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) represent the United States on
ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP), and are working
to ensure that CAEP develops an international standard that achieves meaningful
CO2 emissions reductions through
policies that are equitable across national boundaries. This international
standard is expected to be adopted in early 2016.
Today’s notice is an initial step in the process for EPA to
adopt CO2 standards promulgated by ICAO in the future. It provides the public
and stakeholders with information on the ICAO standard-setting process and
requests input on the setting of these standards. The EPA is seeking
comments from all interested parties, including small
businesses, on a variety of issues related to setting CO2 standards for
aircraft, including:
The appropriate effective dates for the potential
international CO2 standard
The appropriate stringency levels for the CO2 standard
Whether international standards should apply to new
in-production aircraft as well as new aircraft types
We welcome your comments on these proposed endangerment and
contribution findings and ANPR. Comments will be accepted for 60 days beginning
when this proposal is published in the Federal Register. All comments should be identified
by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ OAR-2014-0828 and submitted by one of the following
methods:
Internet: www.regulations.gov
E-mail: A-and-R-Docket@epa.gov
Mail:
Environmental Protection Agency
Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (6102T) 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20460
Hand Delivery:
EPA West building
EPA Docket Center (Room 3340) 1301 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC
You should consult the Federal Register notice for this
proposal for more information about how
to submit comments, when the comment period will close, and about where and if
a public hearing will be held.
For More Information
You can access the proposal and ANPR on EPA’s Office of
Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ)
Website:
For more information on this proposal and ANPR, please
contact the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Transportation and
Air Quality at:
E-mail: otaq@epa.gov