This week, the EPA issued a final rule regarding greenhouse gas regulations that may pose a roadblock for the agency to move forward with future greenhouse gas emissions regulations.  The final rule establishes a threshold of 3 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions that an industry must meet before it can be regulated by the EPA for GHG emissions.  The rule does establish that electric power plants  meet the 3 percent threshold, but the rule separates the oil and natural gas industry into two separate industries – extraction and  refinement and distribution – that would place both industries below the 3 percent threshold and, therefore, escape further GHG regulation.

Because the final rule issued by the EPA is vastly different than what the agency issued in its proposed ruled, many legal experts are saying the final rule is vulnerable to legal challenges because the public did not have a meaningful opportunity to review and comment on what the EPA finalized – which is in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.