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
[WEBINAR] Update on the California Environmental Quality Act: What’s New for 2018
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced on March 12, 2025, that EPA will undertake 31 distinct actions in an effort to advance President Donald Trump's Day One executive orders (EOs) to...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 September 16, 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against five of the world’s largest oil and gas companies for allegedly denying or downplaying the harm caused by fossil fuels on climate change....more
After Held v. Montana was decided, and I read Peter Vetere’s blog post, I’ve been thinking about the Massachusetts Constitution. Would Massachusetts’ youth have similar success arguing for a guaranteed safe, clean...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced July 25 proposed updates to its Air Emissions Reporting Requirements (AERR), including a proposal to require the reporting of hazardous air pollutants, or “air toxics”...more
On April 28, California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) approved new regulations which would phase out the sales of medium and heavy-duty combustion trucks in California by 2036. The goal is to fully transition existing fleets...more
California has been pushing hard recently to lose its status as the second-largest contributor of the nation’s greenhouse gases (still comfortably behind Texas.) ...more
A recent US Environmental Protection Agency final rule seeks to ensure that nearly two dozen states reduce emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that contribute to challenges attaining and maintaining air...more
Key Points - The co-legislators of the EU recently reached a provisional agreement on a regulation for a CBAM. CBAM will require importers to the EU of covered carbon-intensive products to pay a charge for the carbon...more
Need a refresher on key developments in 2022 to prepare you for what’s next in 2023? Here’s a rundown of some high-profile happenings, along with some you might have missed....more
Late last month, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in Midwest Ozone Group v. EPA, the latest challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). The Good...more
Many have characterized West Virginia v. EPA as a decision depriving EPA of an important tool to address climate change under the Clean Air Act. The decision is better viewed as steering EPA away from a flawed regulatory...more
On March 29, 2022, the Government of Canada released the first of a series of emissions reduction plans, entitled "2030 Emissions Reduction Plan – Canada's Next Steps for Clean Air and a Strong Economy" (the ERP) under the...more
Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its Notice of Decision in the Federal Register to rescind EPA’s 2019 withdrawal of California’s waiver of preemption under Section 209 of the Clean Air Act (CAA)...more
The goal of the Clean Air Act’s visibility program is to achieve natural visibility conditions by 2064 in federal Class I areas (basically, national parks). States must show that they are making “reasonable progress” towards...more
The Obama administration adopted the Clean Power Plan to reduce power sector greenhouse gas emissions in line with its commitments under the Paris Agreement climate accord. The Clean Power Plan invoked Clean Air Act §...more
Ninth Circuit Upholds U.S. EPA Waiver to CARB Regarding “Non-Road” Diesel Engine Regulations - On February 10, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection...more
The South Coast Air Quality Management District (“SCAQMD”) is pursuing a new rule to regulate distribution warehouses. The SCAQMD’s focus is not on emissions generated by the warehouses or their equipment. Rather, its focus...more
The early days of the Biden Administration have given commercial users and providers of transportation and logistics services a lot to consider. In the first week of his presidency alone, President Biden signed 22 executive...more
One thing that is clear from the 2020 election: the Senate will remain closely divided, with slim majority control to be determined by the two January Senate runoff races in Georgia. President Elect Biden has announced the...more
The Earth’s climate is changing. With unprecedented fires in California and the State’s litigation with the federal government, the Brazilian rainforest fires, and the aircraft industry’s inability to curb aircraft emissions,...more
As industrial facilities go, distribution warehouses are clean, non-polluting operations. They generally do not operate industrial furnaces, boilers, compressors, pumps, tanks or other major stationary sources of air...more
On July 16, 2020, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) released its Strategic Assessment of Climate Change (SACC). The SACC provides detailed guidance to those project proponents required to assess climate change...more
CARB Finalizes Amendments to At-Berth Vessel Rules - On August 27, 2020, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted new emission reductions requirements for At-Berth Vessels. These regulations will require...more
The Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies (“AAPCA”) has issued the 2020 edition of its annual report titled: State Air Trends & Successes - The StATS Report (“Report”). AAPCA describes the Report as cataloging: ...more