For decades, Clean Air Act (CAA) air permitting programs have regulated harmful air pollution from industrial and power facilities. Congress designed the air permitting system to protect communities from local pollution and adopt cleaner technologies over time. However, the program is being held back by decades-old guidance documents that slow down progress. These documents allow industry to make minor improvements using older pollution controls, rather than using the truly clean technologies available today.
Summary
This report offers the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actionable recommendations to develop appropriate compliance plans that reduce pollution and can serve as the foundation for further federal efforts. It also provides state and local air permitting authorities a list of actions they can immediately take to simultaneously address air permitting concerns in overburdened communities alongside EPA.
Purpose
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has supercharged zero-emission technologies; now it’s time for the air permitting programs that cover nearly every big pollution source to scale up clean technology everywhere. Ensuring air permit writers, who control these polluting facilities, can require zero-emission technologies will also help respond to urgent calls from environmental justice advocates to end the unfair pollution burden on low-income communities and communities of color. By combining IRA investments with modernized CAA tools, we can accelerate positive change at facilities nationwide and address the racist and classist pollution burdens too many still face.
What's Inside
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Understanding—and—Fixing Air Permitting
Fundamentals of Air Permitting
What's Gone Wrong
Recommendations
Close Permitting Loopholes
Makes Clear That Clean Technology Must Be Required in Permits
Make it Easy to Identify Clean Technology
Increase Public Transparency
Prioritize Addressing Local Impacts
Technical Permitting Overview
Air Permitting Requirements
Climate Programs and Air Permitting
Environmental Justice Initiatives Related to Air Permitting
Civil Rights (Title VI) Requirements in Air Permitting
Flaws in Air Permitting—Technical Specifics and Examples
Loopholes Allowing Avoidance of Triggering Program Requirements
Insufficient Consideration of Clean Technologies
Reliance on Outdated and Insufficient Review Approaches
Inadequate Cost Evaluations
Dependency on Resource Intensive Enforcement Actions
No Clear Regulatory Mechanism to Address Adverse Impacts
