Adding to the evolving debate on how and whether the US should regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from aircraft, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced plans to seek public comment on two petitions urging the Agency to curb aviation emissions, during recent testimony to the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

The two petitions - one by a group of states including California and the other by a coalition of environmental groups - urge EPA to (1) determine that aircraft emissions cause or contribute to air pollution and endanger public health and (2) adopt regulations to control such emissions.

Both petitions point out that, in 2005, aircraft accounted for 3% of the United States’ total carbon dioxide emissions and for 12% of such emissions from the transportation sector. The governments added that, due to anticipated increase in air traffic, “emissions from aircraft are expected to increase 60% over current levels by 2025.” Besides CO₂, aircraft also emit nitrogen oxides (NO_x), which contribute to the formation of ozone, another greenhouse gas. According to the environmental groups,

“emissions of NO_x in the upper troposphere and tropopause, where most aviation emissions occur, result in greater concentrations of ozone than ground-level emissions.” Furthermore, aircraft alter cloud cover patterns, which in turn “tends to warm up the surface of the Earth, further contributing to global warming.”

The petitions ask EPA to respond within 180 days and to initiate a formal process that would ultimately limit GHG emissions from all aircraft arriving to or departing from U.S. airports.

On April 2, 2008, the EPA’s Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, Robert J. Meyers, testified before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming to address the issue of aviation GHG emissions. During his testimony, Mr. Myers stated: “[t]he next step in our process is to seek public comment on these two petitions.” “In particular, the [EPA] will request information on potentially available technological controls for aircraft and their engines and operational measures to reduce emissions from aircraft - including information on what is feasible in the near-term as well as relevant cost and safety information.” EPA’s solicitation of public comment and information on the petitions would be “part of the Advance Notice of Public Rulemaking that [EPA] intend[s] to issue later this Spring.”

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson had announced his intent to publish an Advance Notice of Public Rulemaking “to discuss and solicit public opinion” on a host of GHG-related issues, including “the Agency response to the Massachusetts v. EPA decision, several mobile source petitions (on-road, non-road, marine, and aviation), and several stationary source rulemakings (petroleum refineries, Portland cement, and power plant and industrial boilers).”

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