The U.S. EPA on March 12 announced it has kicked off a formal reconsideration of 2009 Endangerment Finding, which forms the legal basis for greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations, and is considering the elimination of the agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. 

The Endangerment Finding is not a regulation. Rather, it is a legal determination made by the EPA in 2009 that GHG emissions endanger human health and the environment. It specifically addresses carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride emissions and allows the EPA to regulate the emissions of those six GHGs. 

According to the EPA, it will begin a formal reconsideration of the Endangerment Finding in collaboration with the Office of Management and Budget and other relevant agencies. The agency also said it intends to reconsider all of its prior regulations and actions that rely on the Endangerment Finding. Vehicle tailpipe emissions standards among the regulations the EPA said it will initially target. 

Also on March 12, the EPA announced plans to reconsider its mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which currently requires more than 8,000 facilities and suppliers in the U.S. to calculate and submit data on their GHG emissions annually. Many ethanol plants and other biorefineries are among the facilities currently subject to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.