Airplanes to Be Regulated for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under New U.S. Environmental Standards

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday will finalize the first-ever proposed standards regulating greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes, a spokeswoman told Reuters.

The EPA said in July its proposed 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. Critics say the agency should have required tougher emissions rules.

The EPA said in July the proposed requirements would apply to new-type designs as of January 2020 and to in-production airplanes or those with amended type certificates starting in 2028.

The EPA said Monday it anticipates nearly all affected airplanes to be compliant by the effective dates.

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

The state attorneys general joining the letter included California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

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

The airplanes covered by the proposed rule accounted for 10% of all U.S. transportation greenhouse gas emissions and 3% of total U.S. emissions. They have been the largest source of transportation greenhouse gas emissions not subject to rules.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in July the proposal was based on “where the technology is today … You can’t really set the standard that can’t be met.”

Under former President Barack Obama, the EPA in 2016 declared that aircraft emissions posed a public health danger.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

This article was written by David Shepardson from Reuters and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].