The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent its final endangerment finding concering greenhouse gases to the White House, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson told Reuters on Monday.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) now has 90 days to review the proposal, though Jackson said she is hoping for approval sooner than that.
Jackson did not say if there were substantive changes to the proposal from an earlier draft that stated the dangers posed to human health and wellfare. Such a finding is necessary if the EPA is to regulate greenhouse gases from the nation's largest industries.
The EPA also sent a final finding to the OMB concerning pollution from cars and trucks, according the the Reuters report. That finding, if approved, would allow for regulation of tailpipe emissions through increased standards for fuel efficiency.
Jackson told Reuters the government has until March to inform automakers of new standards for the 2012 model year.
The EPA has been taking the necesary steps to regulate greenhouse gases, should legislative proposals fail to address the heat-trapping gases contributing to global climate change.
Some lawmakers want to include measures in proposed climate change legislation that would strip the EPA of this regulatory authority, which was supported by the US Supreme Court in 2005.
Read the Reuters report at the link below.
