The Continuing Impact of Coal Ash - Energy Law Insights
EPA’s action finalizes aggressive emission reduction targets for certain subcategories of fossil fuel-fired power plants, based on implementation of carbon capture and sequestration. On April 25, 2024, the US...more
EPA’s long-promised rules for reducing CO2 emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants have now been published. In the proposal, EPA lays out “performance standards” for new natural gas-fired power plants and “emission...more
The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has announced a new proposed rule that would strengthen the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants ("NESHAP") for Coal- and Oil- Fired Electric Utility Steam...more
This term, in West Virginia v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could not compel a nationwide shift away from coal-powered electricity generation. The Court reasoned that it...more
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated opinion in the case of West Virginia v. EPA regarding the agency’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) from new and existing coal- and gas-fired power...more
On the heels of oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court, we provide an update to a prior ELM post whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s has the ability to regulate carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired...more
West Virginia v. EPA, No. 20-1530; North American Coal Corp. v. EPA, No. 20-1531; Westmoreland Mining Holdings v. EPA, No. 20-1778; North Dakota v. EPA, No. 20-1780: In four consolidated cases, the Court agreed to review the...more
EPA filed a status report on October 15 in the slow-moving mercury and air toxics (MATS) litigation, which is now Murray Energy Corp. v. EPA, No. 16-1127 (D.C. Cir., filed April 26, 2016). The case is a challenge to EPA...more
On June 19, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the final “Affordable Clean Energy” (“ACE”) rule to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (“CPP”), which was suspended by the U.S. Supreme Court after...more
United States Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) sent a December 13th letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs: . . . expressing grave concerns regarding the...more
On Tuesday, August 21, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule, a proposal to replace the Clean Power Plan issued in 2015. EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler...more
Mike Nasi, partner in our Austin office, joined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey at a Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) event to discuss the Clean Power Plan rules in...more
On March 3, 2016 the Supreme Court denied an application by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and several other states for a stay of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (“MATS”) – a...more
On February 9, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) took an unprecedented step by halting the implementation of the Obama Administration's federal regulation to control carbon dioxide emissions, generally...more
In an unprecedented action, the U.S. Supreme Court has stayed implementation of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan regulations. The case is now under review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, with a...more
On February 9, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an unprecedented grant of applications to stay the Clean Power Plan, President Obama’s signature climate change rule. The rule is being challenged in the U.S....more
In a highly unusual action, the United States Supreme Court yesterday issued a stay prohibiting the implementation of the "Clean Power Plan," a final regulation issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") on...more
EPA on September 15, 2015, announced its National Enforcement Initiatives (NEIs) for its Fiscal Years (FY) 2017 – 2019 and requested comment on them. 80 Fed. Reg. 55352. EPA selects enforcement initiatives every three years...more
Existing and new power plants face increasing complexity as EPA’s historic final rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions represents a major expansion of EPA’s regulatory authority. In a rare presidential announcement of...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Clean Power Plan (Plan) in its final form on August 3, 2015. The rule reshapes energy policy nationwide by setting state-by-state greenhouse gas emissions...more
On August 3, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued three separate but related actions to address carbon pollution from power plants: 1) the final Clean Power Plan, President Obama’s signature effort to...more
Citing “immediate risks” to national security, public health, and the economy, the Obama Administration adopted ambitious regulations and policies to implement its Clean Power Plan, establishing the first ever national...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral argument on the first legal challenges to EPA’s “Clean Power Plan” on April 16, 2015. The plan is a proposed rule under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air...more
Our wardens at the EPA are “racing to turn out new regulations before the clock runs out on President Obama’s term”, says The Hill. The EPA is revising its Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for coal fired power plants....more
The D.C. Circuit, by majority decision, upheld MATS, which requires coal- and oil-fired power plants to reduce emissions of mercury, arsenic, chromium, and other air pollutants. When the EPA adopted MATS in 2011, it did not...more