The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed Monday its review of EPA’s proposed finding under the Clean Air Act that emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) endanger public health and welfare and concluded that the so-called “endangerment finding” will not in itself significantly affect the economy. OMB’s conclusion clears the way for EPA to begin regulating GHG emissions from sources subject to the Act. Notwithstanding OMB’s narrow analysis and conclusion, future regulation of anthropogenic GHGs is expected to have profound and far-reaching economic effects.
Approval of the endangerment finding is widely perceived to increase pressure on Congress to act on climate change, because EPA has bound itself to regulate GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act in the absence of any intervening legislation from Congress. On Tuesday, the same day as OMB announced its approval of the endangerment finding, the Obama Administration’s climate and energy coordinator, Carol Browner, stressed the Administration’s preference that Congress direct government efforts to combat climate change, rather than defaulting the task to EPA to regulate GHG emissions through the existing statutory and regulatory framework. Absent congressional leadership, however, comments by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson suggest that EPA could propose regulations limiting emissions from at least some GHG sources as early as this summer.
The Obama Administration is reportedly planning to issue the endangerment finding this week (with some rumors that the Administration may wait until Earth Day on April 22 to announce the finding), and will seek to finalize the finding by the end of June. It remains unclear whether the endangerment finding will be limited to a scientific determination or whether the finding will provide insights into how the finding may guide further EPA climate change initiatives. The technical documents accompanying the proposed endangerment finding suggest that the final finding may be limited to a strict scientific demonstration.