Editor Michael Burger brings together a comprehensive assessment of how one statutory provision – Section 115 of the Clean Air Act, “International Air Pollution” – provides the executive branch of the U.S. government with the authority, procedures, and mechanisms to work with the states and private sector to take national climate action.

The EPA¿s promulgation of an ¿endangerment finding¿ for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Dec. 2009, and its subsequent promulgation of GHG emission standards for new motor vehicles on April 1, 2010, have raised concerns that the agency will now proceed to control GHG emissions from stationary sources, incl. power plants,manufacturing facilities, and others. Stationary sources account for 69% of U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases. Some have suggested that EPA should delay taking action on these sources or should be prevented from doing so. This report discusses elements of this controversy, providing background on stationary sources of greenhouse gas pollution and identifying options Congress has at its disposal. Illus.

It appears inevitable, absent legislative intervention, that regulation under the Clean Air Act (CAA) will move beyond mobile sources to the industrial and power facilities that emit most U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We analyze the mechanisms available to the EPA for regulating such sources, and identify one, New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) as the most predictable, likely, and practical, i.e. knowable, pathway. Based on the legal structure of the NSPS and the EPA's traditional approach, we analyze a hypothetical GHG NSPS for one sector, coal electricity generation. This analysis indicates that efficiency improvements and perhaps biomass cofiring could be implemented through the NSPS, yielding modest but meaningful emissions reductions. Trading could also rein in costs. Though analysis is limited to one sector and does not include modeling of costs, it suggests that CAA regulation, though inferior to comprehensive climate legislation, could be a useful tool for regulating stationary-source GHGs.

"It appears inevitable, absent legislative intervention, that regulation under the Clean Air Act (CAA) will move beyond mobile sources to the industrial and power facilities that emit most U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We analyze the mechanisms available to the EPA for regulating such sources, and identify one, New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) as the most predictable, likely, and practical, i.e. knowable, pathway. Based on the legal structure of the NSPS and the EPA's traditional approach, we analyze a hypothetical GHG NSPS for one sector, coal electricity generation. This analysis indicates that efficiency improvements and perhaps biomass cofiring could be implemented through the NSPS, yielding modest but meaningful emissions reductions. Trading could also rein in costs. Though analysis is limited to one sector and does not include modeling of costs, it suggests that CAA regulation, though inferior to comprehensive climate legislation, could be a useful tool for regulating stationary source GHGs."--Abstract.

Although addressing greenhouse gases is a leading priority of the President and many members of Congress, the ability to limit these emissions already exists under Clean Air Act authorities that Congress has enacted. In response to the Supreme Court decision, EPA has begun the process of using this existing authority, issuing an "endangerment finding" for greenhouse gases and proposing greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations for new motor vehicles. This book reviews the various options that the EPA could exercise to control GHG emissions from stationary sources under the Act.