EPA: Aircraft emissions contributors to climate change

ALBANY — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized a determination under the Clean Air Act that greenhouse gas emissions from certain types of aircraft engines contribute to the pollution that causes climate change, endangers the health of Americans and degrades the environment.

Greenhouse gas pollutants that represent the largest driver of human-caused climate change are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), all of which come primarily from the engines used on large commercial jets.

“Addressing pollution from aircraft is an important element of U.S. efforts to address climate change,” said EPA acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Janet McCabe. “Aircraft are the third-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. transportation sector, and these emissions are expected to increase in the future. (The) EPA has already set effective greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks, and any future aircraft engine standards will also provide important climate and public health benefits.”

According to statistics from the Air Transport Action Group, in 2015 nearly 3.6 billion passengers were carried by the world’s airlines, and these flights produced 781 million tons of CO2.

The EPA reports that U.S. aircraft emit roughly 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. transportation sector.

According to officials, the EPA is not yet issuing emission standards for aircraft engines. The final endangerment and contribution findings for aircraft engine greenhouse gas emissions are an important step the EPA must take prior to adopting domestic engine emission standards.

“EPA is focusing on matching the scope of our contribution findings to the applicability thresholds of the international standard,” said EPA Media Relations Specialist Christie St. Claire. “This is a reasonable approach for this first finding regarding the contribution of aircraft GHG emissions to the endangering air pollution, as the vast majority of U.S. emissions from all classes of aircraft engines will be covered by this scope of applicability, which corresponds to 26 percent of global aircraft GHG emissions.”

In 2009, the EPA issued similar findings regarding greenhouse emissions from new cars and light trucks. The agency determined that emissions from these vehicles contributed to greenhouse gas pollution which, in turn, threatened the health and welfare of Americans by leading to long-lasting negative changes in the climate.

Since then, the science of human-induced climate change has strengthened and the rule-making process for aircraft greenhouse gas emissions will provide opportunities for industries and other interested parties to provide input through public review and comment.

The latest EPA findings support the goals of the President’s Climate Action Plan to reduce emissions from the largest sources of carbon pollution, but do not apply to small piston engine aircraft, the type of planes most often used for recreational flying or military aircraft.

For more information on the final aircraft endangerment cause and contribution findings, visit http://epa.gov/otaq/aviation.htm or call (202) 564-2880.