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EPA Greenhouse Gas Finding Could Impact Housing
An “endangerment finding” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week concluding that emissions from cars and trucks contribute to the dangerous levels of greenhouse gases now in the air could lead to regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from a number of sources, including homes heated by electricity or gas power generated by fossil fuels.
The EPA provided a 60-day comment period for the proposed finding, and NAHB plans to submit comments.
The greenhouse gases included are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.
The proposed finding is in response to a Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts vs. EPA that the agency had not provided ample reasons for denying requests from several states for it to regulate greenhouse gases from cars and trucks.
NAHB volunteers and staff members are in the process of studying the possible implications of the EPA finding and how it might change federal regulations under the Clean Air Act.
In December 2007, NAHB published “Greenhouse Gas Regulation Under the Clean Air Act: A Legal Analysis and Consideration of Potential Ramifications for the National Association of Home Builders” — a white paper on what the housing industry might expect under stepped-up regulation of CO2 emissions.
For more information, e-mail Matt Watkins at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8327.
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