• Overview
• List of related regulations

Overview

Aircraft account for 12 percent of all U.S. transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 3 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions.

2016

EPA Responds to Petition to Reconsider Finding that Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Certain Classes of Aircraft Endanger Public Health and Welfare
The EPA responded to the petition for reconsideration of the final action, “Finding That Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Aircraft Cause or Contribute to Air Pollution That May Reasonably Be Anticipated To Endanger Public Health and Welfare.” The petition requested reconsideration of that finding with respect to the Agency’s treatment of biogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from short-cycle annual herbaceous crops. In the EPA’s response, the Administrator denied the petition for reconsideration for the reasons set forth in the below documents.

• Notice of Final Action Denying Petition for Reconsideration (PDF)(3 pp, 276 K, published December 30, 2016, About PDF)
• Petition for Reconsideration from Biogenic CO₂ Coalition to Gina McCarthy, U.S. EPA, for the Finding that Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Aircraft Cause or Contribute to Air Pollution that May Reasonably be Anticipated to Endanger Public Health and Welfare (October 14, 2016)
• EPA Response to Petition from Biogenic CO₂ Coalition (December 21, 2016)

EPA Finalizes Clean Air Act Finding that Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Certain Classes of Aircraft Endanger Human Health and Welfare
EPA finalized findings that GHG emissions from certain classes of engines used in aircraft contribute to the air pollution that causes climate change endangering public health and welfare under section 231(a) of the Clean Air Act. The EPA’s findings are in preparation for a future domestic rulemaking process to adopt future GHG standards. Any future proposed aircraft engine standards would also be open to public comment and review before they could take effect.

2015

EPA proposed a process for setting international carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions standards for aircraft and sought input on related issues.

2014

EPA submitted an information paper to the United Nation’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that set a timeframe for initiating the U.S. domestic regulatory process for addressing greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft under the Clean Air Act.

2011

EPA began taking steps to propose regulating GHG emissions from aircraft when multiple legal decisions required EPA to make an endangerment finding under the Clean Air Act to reduce the emission of air pollutants from aircraft that contribute to global climate change.

Learn more: 

• EPA Collaboration on International Air Pollution Standards for Aircraft

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List of Related Regulations

Below is a list of all regulations related to GHG emissions from aircraft.

• Regulations;
• Regulatory impact analyses;
• Comment summaries;
• Rule histories; and
• Fact sheets.

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