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Washington partner comments in The Wall Street Journal on recent EPA ruling
The Wall Street Journal
December 8, 2009
Washington partner
Peter Glaser was quoted in a
Wall Street Journal article today about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declaring on Monday that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health and that this decision could lead to new emissions regulations for businesses across the economy.
The article stated that the endangerment finding “is necessary to move ahead on new emissions standards for cars due out in March 2010. Made under the Clean Air Act, it also opens up large emitters such as power plants, oil refineries, chemical plants and metal smelters to regulations that limit their output of carbon dioxide and other gases. … [Additionally,] it gives the administration leverage in its negotiations and puts pressure on Congress to pass a bill that cuts greenhouse gases in a more economically efficient way.”
The article also commented that “provisions in the EPA’s tailoring rule may mean the 25,000-tons-a-year threshold won’t apply in many states.”
“
Peter Glaser, a lawyer representing utilities at the firm
Troutman Sanders LLP in Washington, said the EPA tailoring proposal explicitly says that federal law doesn’t preempt state laws on the major pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act. According to the EPA, many states have a 100-ton-threshold level for operating permits and 250-ton level for construction permits. If those levels apply, they would affect one million to four million facilities across the country, the EPA said.”
To read the article in its entirety, please visit
The Wall Street Journal.