The Scheduling Rule

<p>S1. &nbsp;In response to concerns about the potentially enormous regulatory burdens, EPA adopted

two other rules – the tailoring rule3 and the scheduling rule4 – that attempt to phase in the control

requirements and limit them to the 1600 or so largest sources. In particular, the scheduling rule

provides that greenhouse gases will be “subject to regulation” as of January 2, 2011, when the

mobile source standards take effect. The tailoring rule then provides that, for the first six months

of 2011, only sources that are already subject to the PSD permitting program for other pollutants

will also undergo PSD review for greenhouse gases. After that, triggering the program will only

depend on a source’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The tailoring rule then dramatically alters the thresholds for “new” and “major” sources.

For example, a “new” source will be subject to the PSD program if it has the potential to emit

100,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year (measured in carbon dioxide equivalency), rather than the 250 ton threshold set by the statute. The tailoring rule similarly alters the scope of the Title V

operating permit program, establishing a 75,000 ton per year threshold, rather than the 100 tons

per year set in the Act. EPA relies on the doctrines of “administrative necessity” and “avoiding

absurd results” to support the rule, but the Agency has had little success using those notions in the

past.</p>