The Legal and Practical Challenges of California's Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation
Nota Bene Episode 101: Catching up with Global Climate Regulation with Nico van Aelstyn
Schoenbrod: SCOTUS Ruling Helps EPA Deal With a "Stupid Statute"
The EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation (“OAR”), responsible for most of the EPA’s major air regulatory and policy efforts, will be restructured in the months to come. This shakeup comes on the heels of the EPA’s announcement...more
How Southern California Wildfires Impact Air Quality, Smoke Damage, and Insurance Coverage - The Southern California wildfires in January 2025 are expected to be one of the costliest natural disasters in United States (US)...more
Effective May 2024, EPA tightened the annual health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from 12.0 µg/m3 to 9.0 µg/m3. This change was made after a review of the available...more
Port Arthur Community Action Network (PACAN) v. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality et al. (Tex. Feb. 14, 2025) presented the Texas Supreme Court with a unique opportunity to provide defined guideposts to understand...more
In Marin Audubon Society v. FAA, the D.C. Circuit held the White House Council on Environmental Quality ("CEQ") lacks authority to issue binding regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA")....more
In the last four years, California has adopted some of the nation’s most innovative air regulations, including a ban on new gasoline-powered car sales by 2035 and a prohibition against diesel-fueled trucks visiting state...more
The Commonwealth of Kentucky, Energy and Environment Cabinet and Louisville Metro Air and Pollution Control District (collectively, “Kentucky”) filed a Complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of...more
On September 4, 2024, the New Mexico Environment Department’s Air Quality Bureau (AQB) updated its Civil Penalty Policy, making several key changes to its assessment of civil penalties and administrative compliance costs in...more
Wisconsin Attorney General (AG) Josh Kaul has announced an $85,000 settlement with the global food supply company Kerry, Inc. in relation to the company’s operation of a liquid smoke manufacturing facility....more
The Clean Air Act (“CAA”) envisions states and the federal government working together to improve air quality. Under the CAA, states must develop State Implementation Plans (“SIPs”) to implement National Ambient Air Quality...more
The Biden-Harris Administration recently issued a suite of new rules aimed at addressing water and air quality, reducing methane emissions, protecting environmental justice communities, and accelerating the nation’s...more
On May 3, 2024, Brazil’s Federal Law No. 14,850/2024 (the “Regulation”) was passed by the President establishing the National Policy on Air Quality. The Regulation provides for the creation of a unified air quality monitoring...more
Less than a month after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published environmental operational standards and greenhouse gas emission regulations for owners and operators of heavy-duty vehicles, including major freight...more
On Tuesday, in Ohio v. EPA, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied several challenges to EPA’s decision to restore California’s authority under § 209(b) of the Clean Air Act to regulate emissions from motor vehicles. It’s...more
Environmental regulations, including those under the California Air Resources Board’s (“CARB”) jurisdiction, present a complex compliance challenge for vehicle fleet managers and operations departments across the country....more
On March 6, 2024, EPA published its final rule lowering the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standards (“NAAQS”) for fine particulate matter (“PM2.5”) to 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter (“µg/m3”). The new, more...more
On March 6, 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register its long-awaited reconsideration of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM). In...more
Exercising one of its most important and far-reaching powers under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has lowered the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate...more
On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Final Rule lowering the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) from the current level...more
In March 2023, the EPA issued its final Good Neighbor Plan, the last in a series of legislations designed to reduce emissions of ozone-forming nitrogen oxide (NO2) which cross state borders. Specifically, the Plan was...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced today a final rule which will tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (“NAAQS”) for fine particulate matter. EPA previously: - Stated on June 10,...more
On February 7, 2024, EPA finalized a rule lowering the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM2.5 to 9.00 ug/m3. This is a significant reduction from the current 12.00 ug/m3 standard and a victory for...more
Today, on February 7, 2024, U.S. EPA announced its final air quality standard to govern fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), also known as soot. More specifically, U.S. EPA set an annual health-based national ambient air...more
On August 4, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (U.S. EPA) “Good Neighbor Plan (GNP)” went into effect, requiring power plants and certain industrial facilities to implement emissions reductions through...more
For anyone involved in the first round of the Clean Air Act regional haze program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) action on the first business day of 2024 came as no surprise: EPA proposed to disapprove the...more