MA Supreme Judicial Court: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Must Be Reduced

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

DEP CHIEF: "EXPEDITIOUS SCHEDULE" NEEDED TO MEET EMISSIONS RULING

By Katie Lannan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MAY 31, 2016....Work to develop greenhouse gas emissions reductions regulations to comply with a recent Supreme Judicial Court decision "must begin immediately" and will kick off with an advisory board meeting next month, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Martin Suuberg said Monday.

Testifying before the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, Suuberg said that developing rules and strategies will take time but state environmental officials "recognize the need for action" and intend to comply with the court's ruling.

"We recognize that if this is going to have an impact on 2020, we need a constructive, expeditious schedule," Suuberg said.

In a unanimous May 17 decision, the court's justices found that current DEP regulations do not fulfill the specific requirements of the Global Warming Solutions Act. The ruling requires the department to promulgate regulations "that address multiple sources of categories of sources of greenhouse gas emissions, impose a limit on emissions that may be released, limit the aggregate emissions released from each group of regulated sources or categories of sources, set emission limits for each year, and set limits that decline on an annual basis."

The 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent below their 1990 levels by 2020.

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton told the News Service last week that he expected "a long process to figure out what we're going to do."

Repeatedly telling the committee that the state "is still at the early innings" of developing new regulations, Suuberg said the department's legal and technical staffs have been reviewing the court's decision.

Beaton plans to convene a meeting of the Global Warming Solutions Act implementation advisory committee to discuss "areas to focus on to achieve the reductions," Suuberg said. Chaired by Undersecretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ned Bartlett, the 15-member committee includes representatives from business, energy, environmental, transportation and academic communities.

"We expect to make substantial progress in 2016 and 2017," Suuberg said. "In the next few weeks, we will be developing a more detailed schedule of actions to be taken and relevant milestones."
Suuberg said the Department of Environmental Protection will look at all sectors and possible strategies for reducing greenhouse gas. Suuberg said he expected a "significant amount" of stakeholder input along the way.

During the hearing, committee members and activists recommended approaches the department could take to comply with the court's decision.

Peter Shattuck, the Massachusetts director for the Acadia Center, said a mix of policies would be required and the state would "need the electric sector to lead the way." The clean power sector could "serve as a backbone" for other emissions reduction efforts, Shattuck said.

Conservation Law Foundation staff attorney David Ismay offered a series of suggestions, including raising requirements for renewable energy standards, further driving down the number of vehicle miles traveled annually, ramping up energy efficiency efforts and repairing gas distribution leaks.

"We think the DEP should be looking toward things it already has control of, systems it already has in place, that are capable of being adjusted to get those bigger gains," Ismay said.

Fixing the leaks in seven "super emitters" in the gas distribution system could account for nearly half of the required emissions reductions by 2020, Ismay said.

In response, Sen. Michael Barrett called for a focus not just on meeting one year's goals, but for a strategy that builds up annual progress for a "smoothly progressive" decline in emissions.

"You plug 'em once, and you've got the superest of the emitters, and you don't realize the same savings the next iteration of gas system work," Barrett said.

Barrett, a Lexington Democrat, described carbon pricing as "the most potentially promising strategy we have" in emissions reductions.

Barrett and committee chairman Sen. Marc Pacheco, a Taunton Democrat, have both filed carbon pricing legislation this session. Under extensions, the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy has until July 1 to report out both bills (S 1747, S 1786).

The Massachusetts Campaign for a Clean Energy Future, a coalition of carbon-pricing supporters, issued a statement after the hearing saying that the state would not be able to meet its emissions reductions requirements "without stronger reforms."

"We should start with policies that we know are effective and will benefit most residents and businesses in Massachusetts," said Cindy Luppi, coordinator of the campaign and New England director for Clean Water Action. "The carbon fee and rebate policy has been effective in both reducing fuel consumption and growing the clean energy sector in British Columbia and makes sense for the Commonwealth."

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