The Trump administration is offering coal-fired power plants and other industrial facilities an opportunity to obtain exemptions from Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements designed to reduce emissions of chemicals such as mercury,...more
The Biden administration's rule requiring the payment of a fee for methane emissions has effectively been rescinded, although, for now at least, the statutory provision imposing the fee remains in effect along with other...more
The Biden administration introduced wide-ranging environmental regulations with profound and far-reaching effects on the environment and the economy. In its first two weeks, the Trump administration has signaled an attempt...more
With unified control of Congress and the White House, Republicans are primed to use the CRA to swiftly overturn regulations promulgated in the final months of the Biden Administration. The Congressional Review Act (CRA)...more
After years of attempts with varying success to regulate methane emissions from new oil and gas wells, the Biden administration has shifted strategy in proposing a regulatory program covering both new and existing oil and...more
Last week, as world leaders met at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), issued a proposed rule under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) designed...more
On November 2, 2021, President Biden released the U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan (the “Plan”). The Plan, calling for substantial reductions in U.S. methane emissions, was announced in tandem with an...more
As discussed in this previous post, the state of methane regulation for the oil and gas industry has been in flux over the past few years as federal regulations issued by the Obama administration were challenged in court and...more
Many stakeholders have called for the United States to adopt a carbon tax. Such a tax could raise billions of dollars in annual revenue while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Several carbon tax proposals were...more
While the texts of environmental laws do not change without an act of Congress, executive branch agencies that enforce those laws have a great deal of discretion in what kinds of violations to prioritize for investigation and...more