In a significant development for Arizona’s business community and environmental policymakers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has paused its planned reclassification of Maricopa County from “Moderate” to...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 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
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced it is initiating a new review of the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (“NAAQS”). EPA states it is taking this action based on advice provided...more
On June 20, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors Int'l v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, No. 21-1251, (D.C. Cir. June 20, 2023),...more
Last week, the EPA Clean Air Science Advisory Committee provided EPA its review of EPA’s Policy Assessment for the Reconsideration of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone. As expected, CASAC has disagreed with...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its plan under the Clean Air Act’s “good neighbor” provision (the “Plan”) on March 15, 2023. The Plan requires 23 states to reduce their air pollution that...more
EPA’s Big Plans for 2023: Top Air Rulemakings We Are Watching - An environmental lawyer walks into a cocktail party. An often-asked question is: What is happening at EPA in your world? What should we be watching that...more
Last week, Inside EPA (subscription required) reported that the Clean Air Science Advisory Committee has pretty much agreed that the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone must be made more stringent. Apparently,...more
On March 15, 2023, EPA finalized its Good Neighbor Plan under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”), a rule designed to reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxide ("NOx") pollution from power plants and other industrial facilities in 23 upwind...more
EPA’s latest proposed rule targeting NOx emissions from fossil-fueled electric generating units (EGUs) is a classic study of diminishing returns. It marks the seventh round of NOx controls for the EGU sector since 1990. The...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) that has important implications for powerplants and other industrial nitrogen oxide (NOx) sources in the Western United States,...more
On Friday Jan. 29, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Sierra Club v. EPA, Case No. 15-1465, struck down several provisions in EPA’s 2018 rule implementing the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (“Court”) addressed whether a guidance document issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) constituted final agency action for purposes of...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Halloween published a draft policy assessment recommending that the current National Ambient Air Quality Standards (“NAAQS”) of 70 parts per billion (ppb) be...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
On April 5, 2019, the D.C. Circuit largely struck down another regulation restricting the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in certain products under EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP). The court held that it was...more
On June 27, 2018, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) posted for public comment a draft petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove most of the state from the Ozone Transport Region...more
On May 9, 2018, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a memorandum outlining a “back-to-basics” process for reviewing National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for criteria...more
Industries that manufacture products containing hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), such as aerosol cans, refrigerators, automobile air conditioners, building insulation and fire extinguisher foams, can breathe easier this month...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Businesses and industries that had been impacted by the EPA’s HFCs rule may wish to monitor EPA’s response to this opinion carefully....more
Last Thursday, National Public Radio reported on a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine which offers evidence that air pollution continues to kill thousands in the United States every year. ...more
New administration offers opportunity for engagement on attainment status and to reduce potential compliance costs of 2015 ozone standards. Over the past four decades, compliance with the ozone National Ambient Air...more
On October 1, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a prepublication version of a final rule establishing a new National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. The final rule lowers the primary and secondary...more
On October 1, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final rule lowering the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 70 ppb nationwide (2015 Ozone...more