EPA Inches Closer to Regulating Greenhouse Gases From Airplanes

An EPA plan to set greenhouse gas emissions standards for aircraft appears to have moved one notch closer to finalization.

The White House’s regulatory clearinghouse finished its review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule, according to a notice published on Monday.

The rule would set emissions standards for certain types of airplanes under the Clean Air Act.

The EPA was required to set those standards after it found in August 2016 that greenhouse gas emissions from certain aircraft elevated concentrations of the greenhouse gases that are the primary cause of climate change. The finding said these gases “endanger the public health and welfare of current and future generations.”

The next step for the EPA is to either issue the rule in final form, withdraw it, or reconsider it based on the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs’ review. The agency has said it wants to issue the rule in final form sometime this month, adopting domestic standards that conform with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s 2017 international guidelines.

Before the coronavirus hit, ICAO said the carbon dioxide emissions created by international aviation were estimated to increase by as much as 69% from 2010 to 2020.

The EPA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

‘Utterly Abysmal’

Clare Lakewood, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the ICAO standards are “utterly abysmal. Those standards will in no way address greenhouse gas pollution from aircraft in the way that we need them to, if we’re to protect ourselves and our communities.”

The ICAO standards would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from new aircraft starting in 2028.

But many commercial planes in the U.S., covering more than 80% of aviation demand, already comply with those standards, meaning the ICAO guidelines won’t trigger any improvements in efficiency or fuel use, according to Lakewood. Newly delivered aircraft are also expected to exceed the ICAO standards by roughly 10%, she said.

Carter Yang, a spokesman for the industry trade group Airlines for America, said U.S. airlines improved their fuel efficiency by 40% between 2000 and 2019 and “are helping to lead the fight against climate change with a myriad of measures,” including developing sustainable alternative jet fuels and investments in more fuel-efficient aircraft.

In 2019, U.S. carriers transported 2.5 million passengers and 58,000 tons of cargo per day while contributing just 2% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, Yang said.

In January, the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth notified the EPA of their intent to sue the agency for allegedly taking too long to set the emissions standards.

The airline industry has been battered since the coronavirus pandemic began. At its lowest point in late April, passenger volumes were down 96%, hitting levels not seen “since before the dawn of the jet age in the 1950s,” Yang said.

Bookings have perked up slightly since then. ATA members’ volumes are now down some 74% and carriers are operating 53% fewer flights than a year ago, Yang said. U.S. carriers have also idled 32% of their fleet, he said.