In a final rule, US EPA has approved revisions to the Wisconsin State Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) in 2011 and 2012. The revisions modify Wisconsin’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program to establish emission thresholds for determining which new stationary sources and modification projects become subject to Wisconsin’s PSD permitting requirements for their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Additionally, these revisions defer until July 21, 2014, the application of the PSD permitting requirements to biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from bioenergy and other biogenic stationary sources in the State of Wisconsin. EPA has made the preliminary determination that these revisions are in accordance with the Clean Air Act (CAA) and EPA regulations regarding PSD permitting for GHGs and is approving Wisconsin’s revisions.
These rules establish thresholds and time frames that ensure that smaller GHG sources emitting less than these thresholds will not be subject to PSD permitting requirements for the GHGs that they emit, and defer consideration of CO2 emissions from bioenergy and other biogenic sources (biogenic CO2 emissions) when determining whether the modification of a stationary source would result in a net emissions increase that would trigger PSD thresholds and would require the application of Best Available Control Technology.