On September 30 the EPA announced it might use the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases. On that same day, Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA) introduced their version of a global warming bill. The EPA plans to issue a proposal in an upcoming issue of the Federal Register in response to the 2007 Supreme Court decision that allowed for potential regulation of greenhouse gases. In the absence of legislation the EPA has stated that they would issue regulations instead.
Under the EPA proposal, facilities that emit more than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases annually would be required to obtain permits that demonstrate they are using best practices and technologies to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. Powerplants, refineries, industrial and manufacturing plants and other large emitters would have to install reduction controls if the plant was to be modified or expanded resulting in emissions increasing by more than 10,000 tons.
The 2007 ruling by the Supreme Court says that EPA could regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act if it concludes they endanger public health or welfare. Greenhouse gases include water vapor (36-72%), carbon dioxide (9-26%), methane (4-9%) and ozone (3-7%). In 2008, the EPA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to regulate methane emissions from livestock considered as “stationary” sources. This so-called “cow tax” or permit for emissions would translate into an estimated $175 per cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and $20 per hog at any operation with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs.