Hearing Set for Sept. 22 on Draft Regulation for Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Carbon Dioxide Budget Trading

Dover, DE – September 5, 2008 – (RealEstateRama) — A public hearing will be held 6 p.m., Monday, Sept. 22 on the draft regulation for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Carbon Dioxide Budget Trading Program. The Air Quality Management Section will hold the meeting in DNREC’s auditorium, Richardson and Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover.

The draft regulation can be viewed on DNREC’s website: http://www.awm.delaware.gov/Info/Regs/Pages/RGGI.aspx under “Regulation No. 1147, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to Address Carbon Dioxide Emission from Electric Generating Units.” The draft is also available for inspection 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday at the Air Quality Management Offices, 156 S. State Street, Dover and 715 Grantham Lane, New Castle.

Written comments on the proposed amendment can submitted in writing prior to the public hearing and/or comments may be presented either orally or in writing at the public hearing. Please submit comments in advance of the hearing to: Air Quality Management Section, Division of Air & Waste Management, 156 S. State Street, Dover, DE 19901

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, is a cooperative effort by ten Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont) to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from power plants.

Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, accumulates in the earth’s atmosphere and traps heat that would normally exit into outer space. Excessive amounts of greenhouse gases have contributed to global warming that leads to climate change. Potential impacts from climate change include increased precipitation and sea level rise that could affect water supplies, increase coastal and inland waterway erosion, alter agricultural production, and directly affect the state’s forests, wetlands and estuarine environments.

To address global warming and climate change, the RGGI-participating states have developed a regional strategy for controlling CO2 emissions. Central to this initiative is the implementation of a market-based cap-and trade program – the RGGI Carbon Dioxide Budget Trading Program.

Delaware’s draft Regulation No. 1147 proposes requirements for power plants to stabilize or cap their CO₂ emissions of large electric
generating units between 2009 and 2015. After 2015 power plants will reduce their CO₂ emissions incrementally to achieve a 10 percent reduction by 2019. One allowance will be issued for each ton of CO₂ emissions allowed by the cap. Power plants will be required to have enough allowances to cover its reported emissions each year and may buy or sell allowances, but emissions can not exceed the amount of allowances a power plant holds.

For more information or an appointment to inspect the draft regulation, contact Valerie Gray in Dover at 302-739-9402 or Valerie.Gray (at) state.de (dot) us.

For information on climate change, visit DNREC’s website, www.dnrec.delaware.gov and click on “Climate Change.”

Contact:

Valerie Gray, Division of Air and Waste Management,
302-739-9402