EPA holds public hearing on biogenic emissions deferment

April 4, 2011

BY Lisa Gibson

The U.S. EPA will hold a public hearing April 5 on its proposal to defer for three years the Clean Air Act permitting requirements for carbon dioxide emissions from biogenic sources, including biomass.

The hearing will be held from 2:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. ET at the agency’s headquarters in Washington D.C.: 1310 L St., N.W., room 152-154. A teleconference will also be made available and interested parties can register here. A transcript of the public hearing will also be placed in the Federal Register and the public comment period will be open until May 5.

The EPA initially announced in January 2011 that it would defer requirements under its Tailoring Rule for biogenic emissions, allowing more time to conduct a detailed examination on the science surrounding the issue. The agency said a diverse group of expert scientists in the industry, as well as other stakeholders and an independent scientific panel, will help to determine how these emissions should be treated under EPA’s air permitting program.

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Beginning Jan. 2, the Clean Air Act required large plants and factories planning to make major modifications or those building new facilities to obtain preconstruction permits addressing their greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions from small sources, such as farms and restaurants, are not covered by these permitting requirements.

Sources included in the deferment proposal are those facilities that emit carbon dioxide from burning forest or agricultural products for energy, wastewater treatment, landfills and fermentation processes for ethanol production. Until the EPA takes final action on the deferral, permitting authorities can deem biomass fuel the best available control technology for carbon dioxide emissions from large sources, it said.       

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