Six Western States and Two Canadian Provinces Launch Regional Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap
Trading System to be Proposed in 12 Months
The August 22nd agreement between six western states and two Canadian provinces establishes an emissions reduction target of 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 for all six greenhouse gas emissions. This agreement is expected to lead to a carbon trading market in the Western U.S. with links to Northeastern states.
Members of the "Western Climate Initiative" (WCI) are Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, British Columbia, and Manitoba. According to WCI, Colorado, Kansas and Nevada in the United States; Ontario and Quebec in Canada; and Sonora in Mexico have expressed interest in joining the WCI alliance.
The regional GHG reduction target will not limit member states from pursuing deeper cuts in GHG emissions within their state boundaries. The member states have varying GHG reduction 2020 targets, with the exception of Utah, which committed to passing GHG legislation by mid-2008.
Within 12 months, the WCI states will develop a GHG trading system and are expected to establish trading links with the 10-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the Northeastern U.S. This latest announcement now brings the number of states to 16 that are rapidly moving forward to establish GHG "cap and trade" systems.
California Attorney General Settles Lawsuit on EIR Mitigation of GHG Emissions
Implications for Companies in other States
Just a few days earlier, the California County of San Bernardino settled a lawsuit by Attorney General Jerry Brown Jr. on the adequacy of the county's General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
According to Malcolm C. Weiss, a partner at the California-based law firm Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro LLP (JMBM), "this lawsuit has generated significant concerns over development projects, including infrastructure projects planned by the state. The ramifications of this settlement go far beyond San Bernardino and will help establish the framework for how a project's impacts on global warming should be assessed in future EIRs."
JMBM's Weiss observes, "Given emerging status of climate change law and the lack of standards for conducting analyses as to how a project may impact global warming, environmental practitioners have been seeking guidance in this area. The settlement is an important step in helping understand what the Attorney General's office expects to see in California Environmental Quality Act evaluations when addressing climate change."
The settlement has long-ranging implications for industry and local governments in states beyond California. An increasing number of states are considering requirements for mitigation of GHG emissions in the EIR process, most notably Massachusetts.
This settlement also comes on the heels of a recent move by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) toward requiring GHG analysis in federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents. As part of a NEPA review of an EIS in June 2007, EPA recently objected to drilling plans at a western coal mine because of concerns that the mining company failed to quantify its methane emissions or analyze options for capturing the methane beyond venting it into the atmosphere.