On May 16, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a significant ruling in a longstanding dispute between the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...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 National Association of Clean Air Agencies (“NACAA”) submitted April 10th comments to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) addressing a rule proposed on January 9th titled: Clarifying the Scope...more
The United States House of Representatives passed by partisan vote legislation denominated H.R. 7650 that would amend the Clean Air Act titled: “Air Quality Standards Implementation Act of 2024” (“Act”). The Act...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
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
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
The Environmental Protection Agency, under the Clean Air Act, requires states to work with the EPA to address the interstate transport of air pollution. Under the “Good Neighbor Plan,” the EPA requires each state to implement...more
The United States Chamber of Commerce (“Chamber”) issued a November 2023 report titled: EPA’s Proposed Air Quality Standards Will Cause Permitting Gridlock Across Our Economy (“Report”)...more
Seventy trade groups sent an October 31st letter to Mr. Jeffrey Zients who serves as Chief of Staff in the White House addressing the Clean Air Act National Ambient Air Quality Standard (“NAAQS”) for fine particulate matter...more
The United States Senate Environment & Public Works Committee (“Committee”) held a March 29th hearing titled: The EPA Good Neighbor Rule: Healthier Air for Downwind States (“Hearing”)...more
On February 10, 2023, the Sixth Circuit issued an opinion in Sierra Club, et al. v. U.S. EPA, et al., (Case No. 21-3057). The case involved a petition for review filed by the Sierra Club, the Ohio Environmental Council, and...more
In early January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposal to revise and strengthen a key national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for fine particle pollution, also known as PM2.5. The Clean Air Act...more
In a proposed rule signed on February 28, but not yet published in the Federal Register, EPA proposed to significantly expand its current approach to regulating the interstate transport of ozone. Under the so-called “good...more
On Feb. 7, several environmental groups formally notified EPA that they intend to file suit to force EPA to act on 39 overdue state Regional Haze plans and to trigger a countdown to issuance of Federal Implementation Plans...more
On February 7, 2022, Sierra Club, et al. filed a Notice of Intent to File Suit (“NOI”) over the Unites States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“USEPA”) supposed failure to perform its duties under 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
EPA’s July 8 Memo may force states to impose stricter emissions controls on sources subject to the Regional Haze program. Recently submitted State Implementation Plans (SIPs) may not meet new EPA criteria and interpretations,...more
At the end of September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued yet another memorandum regarding emissions resulting from startup, shutdown, and malfunctions (SSM) at stationary sources of air pollutants, such as...more
Over the summer, several states were among the first to submit to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency their regional haze state implementation plan (SIPs) revisions intended to govern the program for the second planning...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a February 12th Federal Register Notice approving elements of the State of Arkansas’s State Implementation Plan (“SIP”) for the 2000 Ozone (O3) National Ambient...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced it is finalizing a rule to retain the current Clean Air Act National Ambient Air Quality Standard (“NAAQS”) for particulate matter (“PM”). The PM standard...more
On November 24, 2020, EPA published a final rule that changes how facilities can calculate their emissions when assessing permitting requirements under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR) program. Under the final...more
On November 19, 2020, U.S. EPA published its decision to remove Ohio’s air pollution nuisance rule from Ohio’s SIP in the Federal Register. The removal came at the request of Ohio EPA because the nuisance rule does not have a...more
The Sierra Club filed on August 18th in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas a Complaint against Woodville Pellets, LLC (“Woodville”) alleging violations of the Clean Air Act. The Complaint...more