Welcome to the July edition of Nutter’s Environment & Energy Insights, a monthly update of current trends in environment and energy law. The Supreme Court has been busy lately, issuing several opinions that will impact...more
Last week, in a 5-4 opinion, in Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court granted applications for a stay of the implementation of the “Good Neighbor” Plan, the EPA’s federal emissions reduction rule,...more
Co-Author Jordan Wimpy The United States Supreme Court issued on June 27th a stay on the Ozone Federal Implementation Plan (i.e, Good Neighbor Rule) while the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals hears and decides...more
The Supreme Court has released its opinion in Ohio v. EPA, a case involving whether the federal government’s “good neighbor” ozone regulations were properly promulgated. This decision impacts the authority of the U.S....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
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
PM NAAQS: Already behind schedule is perhaps the mostly widely impactful rule change EPA has proposed in many years: a lowering of the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). EPA has...more
On Aug. 25, Colorado’s Legislative Interim Committee on Ozone Air Quality convened for its first of five planned meetings, primarily to discuss background information on Colorado’s ozone air quality issues. As defined by...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced its National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives for 2024-2027. The list includes first-time initiatives to mitigate exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl...more
Pop quiz: What is the naturally occurring gas that forms a life-sustaining, protective barrier when in the Earth’s stratosphere (15-30km above the surface), blocking harmful ultra-violet radiation reaching the planet from the...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
The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council recently weighed in on EPA’s decision whether to lower the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM2.5 and ozone. Specifically, with respect to PM2.5, WHEJAC...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 United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (“CASAC”) transmitted a June 9th letter to Administrator Michael S. Regan addressing: CASAC Review of the EPA’s Policy...more
The United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit (“Eighth Circuit”) issued an order on May 25th granting the State of Arkansas’s Motion to Stay the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) Arkansas State...more
The United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit (“Eighth Circuit”) issued an Order on April 25th denying the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) Motion to Transfer the State of Arkansas’s petition...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
The Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment - Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) submitted a March 21st document to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) regarding the federal agency’s prior...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
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a March 15th prepublication final rule imposing a Federal Implementation Plan (“FIP”) regarding interstate transport for the 2015 8-hour National Ambient Air...more
Last week, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected challenges to EPA’s “Revised Cross-State Air Pollution Update Rule”. The Court found that the Rule was “an appropriate exercise of EPA’s statutory authority”....more
As noted in a February 14th post, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a final rule disapproving State Implementation Plan (“SIP”) submissions for 19 states regarding interstate transport for the...more