On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a final rule to limit carbon particle emissions on subsonic aircraft engines.
The rule sets maximum standards for the amount of non-volatile particulate matter (nvPM) emitted by U.S. civil aircraft engines. Officials said the final rule aligns with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommendations and with International Civil Aviation Organization standards.
“This first-of-its-kind rule in the United States will reduce the environmental impact of civil aviation on our health and climate,” Laurence Wildgoose, assistant administrator for the FAA’s Office of Policy, International Affairs and Environment, said.
The rule will limit the amount of ultrafine carbon particles that aircraft engines can produce. The particles are an inhalation concern for humans, the agency said. Additionally, nvPM can become the nucleus for persistent contrails or line-shaped clouds behind some jet engines that expand into broader cloudiness that may affect the planet, officials said.
The new emissions standards give manufacturers certainty about nvPM that they can use in the next generation of aircraft engines. The final rule is part of the U.S. Aviation Climate Action Plan that hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. aviation sector to net-zero by 2050. The new final rule replaces standards set by the EPA in 2022, and is effective May 24, 2024.