Environmental Protection Agency
The US EPA has issued its final federal greenhouse gas (GHG) permit in the state of Texas. EPA has completed processing all submitted federal GHG permit applications, with the remaining applications transferred to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Regional Administrator Ron Curry said, “we have worked with Texas and Texas businesses to issue over 60 GHG permits, creating well over 20 000 jobs and brining over US$24 billion in projects to the Texas economy. I am proud of our team’s innovation and tireless effort to achieve this important milestone.”
On 31 October 2014, EPA announced both its approval and the state’s air plan and the withdrawal of the federal air plan, making TCEQ the primary GHG permitting authority in Texas. EPA and TCEQ worked closely with pending permit applicants during the transition period and ensured no unnecessary project delays result from this action.
Biotechnology Industry Organisation
BIO has said that it is generally supportive of California’s plan to readopt the sate Low Carbon Fuel Standard, the trade organisation stated in comments submitted on Tuesday to the California Air Resources Board (CARB). As a trade organisation representing advanced biofuel producers, BIO expressed concerns about certain aspects of the law and their potential impact on the production of low carbon biofuels.
Brent Erickson, Executive Vice President, BIO’s Industrial and Environmental Section said, “BIO and its members are concerned that the intensified reporting requirements under the readoption plan could be particularly burdensome in time and cost to small and new low carbon fuel producers. BIO urges CARB to take this concern into account as it works to finalise the readoption plan so that advanced and drop in biofuels can play a meaningful role in reducing climate emissions. CARB should make every effort to ensure that the new reporting (and other) requirements under the plan do note inadvertently discourage small producers or innovation. BIO is generally supportive of the readoption plan, but has concerns as outlined in this letter with respect to the compliance curve, reporting requirements, GREET model, and denaturant calculation.”
Edited from press releases by Claira Lloyd