Last month, I noted that EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards had released a draft reassessment of the particulate matter NAAQS. In a bold moment of speculation, I indicated that it would be difficult for EPA to...more
Last week, Boston released its Climate Action Plan 2019 Update. The Update identifies “priority actions” for the next five years necessary to put Boston on a trajectory towards carbon neutrality by 2050. There’s a lot in the...more
On Tuesday, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals vacated EPA’s “Close-Out Rule,” which basically concluded that upwind states contributing to exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone in downwind...more
10/3/2019
/ Air Pollution ,
Air Quality Standards ,
Appeals ,
Clean Air Act ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NAAQS ,
Ozone ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Vacated
On Monday, District Judge Rodney Sippel ordered sweeping injunctive relief against Ameren Missouri, intended to remedy violations of PSD requirements he had previously identified resulting from upgrades to the Ameren Missouri...more
10/2/2019
/ Air Pollution ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Violations ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Permits ,
Power Plants ,
PSD ,
Regulatory Authority
Yesterday, EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released the “Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule Part One: One National Program,” more succinctly known as the withdrawal of the...more
Last Friday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that EPA violated the Clean Air Act in failing to impose deadlines on upwind states violating the CAA’s Good Neighbor provisions. The Court concluded that, where downwind...more
9/18/2019
/ Air Quality Standards ,
Appeals ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Clean Air Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NAAQS ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Statutory Deadlines ,
Statutory Violations
Last week, EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers promulgated the final rule repealing the 2015 rule defining the Waters of the United States. The repeal rule is 172 pages in its pre-publication version. The word “science” is...more
The Carbon Leadership Council, everyone’s favorite group of former grand poohbahs, is still working at building support for its “carbon dividends” plan. Hope springs eternal. And I don’t mean to make light of the CLC’s...more
EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards has released a draft of its reassessment of the adequacy of the current national ambient air quality standard for particulate matter. Here’s the primary takeaway concerning...more
Earlier this week, the Department of Energy withdrew definitions of “general service lamps” and “general service incandescent lamps” promulgated under the Obama administration. The effect is it eliminate requirements that...more
Last week, EPA proposed to eliminate regulation of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. The most noteworthy response to the proposal came from the large producers. ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP all oppose the...more
The D.C. Circuit today largely upheld EPA’s 2015 revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone. I’m not much of a prognosticator, but I pretty much called this one years ago. The Court was never going to...more
Earlier this week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the “Wehrum Memo,” which reversed EPA’s longstanding policy of “once in, always in” regarding MACT jurisdiction, was not final agency action subject to judicial...more
Earlier this week, Judge Christopher Cooper of the District Court for the District of the Columbia, struck down EPA’s approval of Total Maximum Daily Loads established by the District of Columbia for the Anacostia and Potomac...more
The Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have released final rules amending significant parts of the regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act.
How big an impact will...more
Last week, EPA proposed revisions to its regulations governing the issuance of water quality certifications under § 401 of the Clean Water Act. The regulations are long-overdue and, notwithstanding the source, some of the...more
Those seeking to address climate change through litigation have taken two different paths. Some cases, probably best represented by Juliana v. United States, have plaintiffs who are swinging for the fences. These are...more
Last week, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Statement for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. It’s the second time that the Court has rejected the FWS...more
I’ve always understood that heat causes more fatalities than other weather-related phenomena. It’s only going to get worse with climate change. If you thought that climate change was all about rising sea levels, think again....more
I’ve posted a number of times about the coming wave of efforts to reduce or eliminate GHG emissions from buildings. Notwithstanding Washington’s current intransigence, the electric sector is now decarbonizing. With that...more
ClimateWire (subscription required) reported yesterday that Russia plans to join the Paris Agreement. Apparently, Russia is doing so because it sees a global move to a low-carbon economy and it doesn’t want to be left behind....more
Bloomberg Environment (subscription required) is reporting this morning that Senator Chris Coons is trying to persuade Democrats that they should agree to limit EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases in return for GOP...more
Here’s my take on the Affordable Clean Energy Plan.
Who cares?
On the merits, it does almost nothing. It requires only that states impose heat rate improvement requirements on coal-fired power plants. It’s not going to...more
6/21/2019
/ Air Pollution ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Coal Industry ,
Coal-Fired Plants ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Rules ,
Power Plants
Yesterday, EPA finalized its Affordable Clean Energy rule, which will replace the Obama Clean Power Plan. More on ACE later. For now, I just want to use the ACE roll-out to contrast what’s happening at the federal level with...more
Late last month, New Hampshire filed two law suits seeking to recover a variety of costs and damages it alleges have resulted from contamination caused by releases of PFAS. It’s a wide ranging suit; New Hampshire asserted...more