Aviation Lawyer & Attorney : Chevalier Allen & Lichman Law Firm : Airport Development, Environmental Law

At a April 2, 2008, hearing entitled "From the Wright Brothers to the Right Solutions:  Curbing Soaring Aviation Emissions," the EPA indicated its plans to release an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) soon to solicit comments regarding curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from aircraft engines.  Robert Meyers, principal deputy assistant administrator for the EPA Office of Air and Radiation, testified before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming that the agency had received petitions urging EPA to determine that aircraft emissions cause or contribute to air pollution and endanger public health. The petitions further urge EPA to adopt regulations to control emissions.  The FAA also presented its thought at the Hearing.  Daniel K. Elwell, Assistant Administrator, Office of Aviation Policy, Planning and Environment, testified that the FAA believed that strides were already being made toward reducing GHG emitted from aircraft and counseled patience, since aircraft emissions account for only 3% of GHG in the United States.

• James C. May, President and CEO, Air Transport Association of America
  
• Deron Lovaas, Transportation and Energy Project Co-Director, Natual Resources Defense Council and
• Thomas S. Windmuller, Senior Vice President, International Air Transport Association
  

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On April 11, 2008, a group of concerned cities, companies and citizens filed comments regarding the EPA's proposed revisions to the General Conformity Regulations (see earlier post "EPA Proposes Revisions to General Conformity Rules).  To see the Group's actual Comment letter as filed, click here.

The General Conformity Rules, which the EPA promulgated in 1993 and has not substantially updated since then, require Federal agencies to evaluate the effect their actions will have on air quality prior to their taking any such action.  The Group expressed concern that the revisions that the EPA was suggesting took away some of the protection that the Clean Air Act granted citizens in section 176 (42 U.S.C. 7506).  In addition, the Comment letter stated that the EPA:

• should not allow Federal agencies, in certain instances, to shift the burden of proving that the project conforms to the SIP onto “third parties” (that is, the communities) and the EPA.
• should not allow Federal agencies to obtain permission to emit air pollutants without any connection to a particular project thereby eliminating the need for them to analyze air quality when they undertake projects. Thus, emission increases are effectively hidden in the SIP, unseen and unanalyzed by the communities.
• should not allow the Federal agencies to unilaterally  decide when an analysis is necessary, rather than requiring them to perform an analysis every time.
• should add a definition of applicability analysis.
• should delete the "presumed to conform" program, since only one agency has taken advantage of it in 15 years and it most likely violates the Clean Air Act and the Constitution.

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On January 8, 2008, the United States Environmental Protection Agency published its proposed revisions to the General Conformity Rules.  Under the Clean Air Act, a State develops a State Implementation Plan (SIP), which is the State’s plan for bringing sections of the state which do not comply with the Clean Air Act into compliance. Before any Federal agency takes or funds any action, it must ensure that the project will not interfere with the SIP – that is, it must assure that the Federal action is in “conformity” with the SIP. The General Conformity regulations are the regulations, promulgated by the EPA, implementing the Clean Air Act's "conformity provision.

The General Conformity regulations have become critical to communities around airports because the FAA’s conformity determination is often the only analysis that the FAA will perform with respect to how its projects will affect the air quality in the area around the airport. Thus, we have sought to keep these regulations strong so that Federal agencies, such as the FAA, have to provide the communities around airports with information about the effect their projects have on air quality and ensure that the actions of the Federal agencies dop not adversely impact air quality in the communities.

The EPA’s proposed revisions, the way we read them, weaken those principles in the following ways:

• By allowing Federal agencies, in certain instances, to shift the burden of proving that the project conforms to the SIP onto “third parties” (that is, the communities) and the EPA.
• By allowing the Federal agencies to obtain permission to emit air pollutants without any connection to a particular project thereby eliminating the need for them to analyze air quality when they undertake projects. Thus, emission increases are effectively hidden in the SIP, unseen and unanalyzed by the communities.
• By allowing the Federal agencies to unilaterally  decide when an analysis is necessary, rather than requiring them to perform an analysis every time.

Comments on the proposed revisions are due April 14, 2008, one month after a public hearing held in Washington D.C. on March 14, 2008.  We will post our comments as soon as they are submitted to the EPA.

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