EPA for 1st time aims to regulate aircraft emissions
Pollution from airplanes contributes to climate change, government says
WASHINGTON — Jet engine exhaust from airliners endangers human health and adds to climate change, the government said Monday in taking the first step toward regulating those emissions.
The Environmental Protection Agency said it will use its authority under the Clean Air Act to impose limits on aircraft emissions.
Jet engines spew significant amounts of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, into the upper atmosphere, where they trap heat from the sun. But proposed rules such as imposing fuel-efficiency standards have faced stiff opposition from aircraft makers and commercial airlines.
Aircraft emissions were not addressed as part of the landmark global climate agreement agreed to in Paris in December.
“Addressing pollution from aircraft is an important element of U.S. efforts to address climate change,” said Janet McCabe, EPA’s acting assistant administrator for air and radiation.
Ms. McCabe said aircraft are the third-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. transportation sector, and that is expected to increase.
Cars and trucks already are regulated.
Monday’s determination is merely one step in what could be a yearslong undertaking to adopt domestic emissions standards on aircraft engines. It puts in place a framework for U.S. regulators to partner with the International Civil Aviation Organization to set global CO2 emissions standards next year. The EPA said Monday that it “anticipates moving forward on standards that would be at least as stringent as ICAO’s standards.”
The EPA’s findings do not apply to small piston-engine planes or to military aircraft.
Environmentalists say aviation accounts for about 5 percent of global greenhouse emissions, although the U.N. and EPA cite studies concluding it is actually less than 2 percent.
The Center for Biological Diversity, an Arizonabased conservation association, said Monday that the EPA should propose actual regulations around aircraft emissions before President Barack Obama leaves office in January, rather than leaving the issue to a new administration.
Monday’s action continues the Obama administration’s push to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from a wide array of sectors. Last week, the White House announced new initiatives aimed at making a switch to electric vehicles more attractive for the nation’s drivers.
Over the weekend, top government officials traveled to Vienna as part of an international effort to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs — powerful agents that are most often used in refrigerants in car and home air conditioners. A formal international agreement is expected later this year.