U.S. EPA Finalizing First-Ever Airplane Emissions Rules

by David Shepardson (Reuters) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday said it was finalizing the first-ever proposed standards regulating greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes.

The EPA said its new requirements for airplanes used in commercial aviation and for large business jets would align the United States with international standards.

In 2016, the U.N. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed on global airplane emissions standards aimed at makers of small and large planes, including Airbus SE and Boeing Co, which both have backed the standards.

The final rule “is vital for protecting the environment and supporting the sustainable growth of commercial aviation and the United States economy,” Boeing said on Monday in a statement.

The EPA said it expects “airplanes that are non-compliant will either be modified and re-certificated as compliant, will likely go out of production before the production compliance date of January 1, 2028, or will seek exemptions.”

As a result “EPA is not projecting emission reductions associated with these GHG (greenhouse gas) regulations.” It also does not project the rule “will cause manufacturers to make technical improvements to their airplanes that would not have occurred” otherwise.

In October, a group of 11 states led by California and the District of Columbia urged the EPA to strengthen the first-ever standards.

The 11 states and the District of Columbia said the EPA proposal would “lag existing technology by more than 10 years and would result in no GHG reductions at all compared to business-as-usual.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it expects to publish a proposed rule next year incorporating the EPA’s emissions standard, including testing requirements and exemption procedures it will apply when certifying new airplanes. READ MORE

Politico's Morning Energy: BOEING DEFENDS TRUMP EPA AIRCRAFT CO2 RULE: Boeing on Tuesday filed a request to intervene in a challenge to EPA’s 2020 rule creating CO2 emission standards for jet aircraft before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. That rule set a standard that aligns with the requirements in an international agreement on aircraft signed by the Obama administration in 2016. But last month 12 states, including California and New York, filed a challenge to the rule, calling for one that requires steeper emission reductions.

Boeing thinks the existing rule should stand. “The U.S. EPA’s rule regulating aircraft CO2 emissions directly aligns with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards, which began under the leadership of the Obama-Biden Administration and should continue to be an important pillar of President Biden’s multi-lateral approach to addressing climate change,” Boeing said in a statement, arguing that overturning the regulation would “only discourage future international agreements, which are essential to addressing this global issue.” The Aerospace Industries Association of America, Inc., the industry's top trade group, also sought to intervene in the litigation late Tuesday. READ MORE