Deferral Of GHG Permit Requirements for Biomass & Bioenergy Facilities

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a 3 year deferral of Clean Air Act permitting requirements for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from bioenergy and other biogenic sources. This additional time will allow the agency to conduct a detailed review on this issue. Sources covered by this proposal would include facilities that emit CO2 from burning forest or agricultural products for energy, wastewater treatment, waste management (landfills), and fermentation processes for ethanol production. Facilities meeting the requirements under the agency’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting program will still need to report their CO2 emissions.

New EPA guidance is also being released to assist permitting authorities to determine if using biomass as a fuel can be considered the best available control technology (BACT) for CO2 emissions from the large sources needing permits. According to EPA, this guidance can be used until EPA takes final action on the deferral.

EPA will accept comments on the proposed deferral for 45 days following publication in the Federal Register.

Caltha LLP provides expert environmental consultant services in Minnesota to obtain air and wastewater permits, evaluate regulatory requirements, and to develop cost effective compliance programs.

For further information, contact Caltha LLP at:
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