The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s permitting team will now have another pollutant to consider when writing permits: greenhouse gases.
The Environmental Protection Agency handed over its authority for greenhouse gas permitting to the state of Wyoming on December 23rd. D-E-Q’s Cole Anderson says his department will add pollutants like methane and carbon dioxide to the list of contaminants it reviews.
"I think to a degree it’s going to simplify the process if the state just handles the whole permit. But in the past we have had dual permitting where we worked with EPA to have concurrent public hearings, we would consider their analyzes when we were evaluating whether we were complete with our own analysis."
The greenhouse gas rule, which was finalized in 2010, applies to large emitters. It triggers a Best Available Control Technology review when such facilities apply for a modification or new building permit.
Greenhouse gases contribute to climate change, something the Obama administration says is important to address.