Refiners and oil companies told federal regulators Friday that regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act would result in a flight of manufacturing jobs overseas and a reliance on imported gasoline and other refined products.
Industry representatives testified at the last of the "listening sessions" the US Environmental Protection Agency sponsored around the country to seek advice on designing GHG standards for the country's largest polluters.
Representatives of trade groups as well as major refinery companies told EPA Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy that refineries contribute far less to GHG pollution than electric utilities and the industry has invested millions of dollars in energy efficiencies that make further regulation unnecessary.
"Energy efficiency is and has been an integral part of our industry," Charles Bennett, senior advanced environmental professional at Marathon Petroleum said during the session held at EPA headquarters. "Additional requirements are not needed."
Bennett echoed the concerns of other industry officials when he said that placing new regulatory burdens on refiners would "shift the competitive advantage to less-efficient foreign refiners."
Lion Oil, a company with a single refinery, located in Arkansas, delayed a planned expansion in part because of the economic downturn, but also because of uncertainty created by the potential for Congress to pass a cap-and-trade program or for the EPA to regulate GHGs.
We cannot offset the cost of greenhouse gas regulation with profits from other areas," he said. "We don't have oil wells."
The EPA announced in December it would start the process of developing standards for GHG emissions from oil refineries, with a final rule to be issued by November 2012. The agency said it will also set standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants, with final rules to be issued in May 2012.
Both announcements were part of a legal settlement the EPA reached with a number of US states and environmental groups that challenged an EPA decision during the George W. Bush administration not to include GHGs in its performance standards for power plants and refineries.
McCarthy said Friday she supports the EPA's use of the new source performance standards rule, which sets standards for the industry and requires the use of existing technology to reduce emissions. McCarthy said the system is the right tool to use because, among other things, it takes into consideration the financial burdens the rules would place on companies.
"We are hoping to get real reductions through this tool, but to do it in a way that makes sense for this industry," she said.
