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New Emissions Rules Could Await Construction Equipment
Following an April 2 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on Massachusetts v. EPA, home builders are waiting to see what kinds of changes the Environmental Protection Agency will make to emission regulations for motor vehicles and whether the new rules put in place for cars and trucks might lead to tighter restrictions on construction vehicles as well.
While home builders are not directly regulated by statutory provisions in this case, the ramifications of the decision may eventually affect the industry.
The court ruled that the Clean Air Act authorizes the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles as air pollutants, and that the EPA acted arbitrarily in not providing a good reason for refusing to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change.
The agency is now charged with deciding whether green house gases cause or contribute to climate change — and no matter what it decides, regulatory changes are likely.
If the EPA decides there is not enough scientific evidence or that available evidence is too contradictory to conclude that greenhouse gases are an agent of global warming, it will not regulate carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles — but it would have to give a detailed explanation of the rationale behind its decision and would likely be sued again by states and environmental groups.
If, however, the EPA does decide to regulate greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles, unhappy industry stakeholders could sue, but they would probably have a difficult time overcoming the Supreme Court's decision in light of the court pointing to global warming as “the most pressing environmental challenge of our time.”
NAHB staff members viewing this decision have concluded that EPA regulation of greenhouse gases is probably not far off.
The scope of Massachusetts v. EPA is limited to cars and light- and heavy-duty trucks, but not construction equipment, which is covered by another section of the Clean Air Act. However, depending on what the agency decides to do about new motor vehicle emissions, home builders could see new regulation of construction equipment emissions.
For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.
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