The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rolled out final regulations May 13 that will impose pollution limits on large industrial facilities. The targeted plants account for 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from so-called "stationary sources."

The new rules ( http://www.epa.gov/nsr/documents/20100413fs.pdf ) (PDF, 34KB) will go into effect in 2011 under the U.S. Clean Air Act ( http://www.epa.gov/air/caa/peg/), a federal law first passed in 1970 to clean up air pollution. The same law was recently used to set standards for greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks ( http://www.america.gov/st/energy-english/2010/April/20100405171121ksevir0.5813867.html) after a 2007 Supreme Court ruling held that the agency has the authority to regulate these emissions.

The EPA presented the rules on stationary sources the day after two senators unveiled a proposal to overhaul the nation's energy market and to cap greenhouse gas emissions. It's uncertain whether lawmakers will be able to pass the legislation in an increasingly politically divided Congress, but one of the authors of the Senate bill said May 13 that the United States no longer has a choice.

"The Obama administration has again reminded Washington that if Congress won't legislate, the EPA will regulate," Senator John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said in a statement. Kerry pointed out that the EPA regulations won't include the financial assistance that the Senate bill would offer consumers and businesses, urging his fellow lawmakers "to get it done this year."

If Congress passes a law before the EPA rules go into effect, it could supersede the EPA regulations. If the law comes later, lawmakers might have to work with the EPA to incorporate or modify existing regulations.

Opponents of new climate change laws say that households and businesses can ill afford rising energy prices and new expenses as the nation struggles to recover from a recession. Kerry and other proponents of federal climate action, on the other hand, say that a nationwide law will create a new market for clean technology and lead to job creation, along with environmental benefits.

"There is no denying our responsibility to protect the planet for our children and grandchildren," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said when announcing the new federal regulations May 13. "It's long past time we unleashed our American ingenuity and started building the efficient, prosperous clean energy economy of the future."

Under the new regulations, the EPA will require new power plants, oil refineries, cement factories and other industrial facilities that emit at least 100,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year to get a permit before they can operate. Existing plants that expand or make changes that would increase their emissions by 75,000 tons or more annually would also have to get a permit.

Industries regulated under the Clean Air Act must install state-of-the-art technology to limit emissions if they start new operations or modify existing plants. The rigorous permitting process ensures that air quality standards are maintained.

The EPA estimates that the rules initially will affect about 1,450 new or existing factories nationwide, and said it will start working on new rules for smaller emitters next year.

The agency has no estimate at this time for how much the new greenhouse gas rules for stationary facilities will reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and the other five greenhouse gases covered under the new rule.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)