US EPA finalizes the first regulations on aircraft emissions.

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4 years ago

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will complete the first proposed rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft on Monday, a spokeswoman told Reuters.

The EPA said in July that its proposed requirements for planes used in commercial aviation and for large business jets would bring the United States into line with international standards. In 2016, the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed to global aircraft emissions standards for small and large aircraft manufacturers, including Airbus and Boeing, which have endorsed the standards. Critics say the agency should have demanded more stringent emission standards.

The EPA said in July that the proposed requirements would apply to new type designs beginning in January 2020 and to aircraft in production or with amended type certificates beginning in 2028.

State attorneys general who joined the letter included California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

All 11 states and the District of Columbia said the EPA proposal issued in July “would delay existing technology by more than 10 years and result in no GHG (greenhouse gas) reductions at all compared to the current situation.

Aircraft covered by the proposed rule accounted for 10% of all U.S. transportation GHG emissions and 3% of total U.S. emissions. They have been the largest source of unregulated transportation GHG emissions.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in July that the proposal was based on “where the technology is today… You can’t really set the standard that you can’t meet.