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
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
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
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
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
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
The evidence of the harm resulting from PM2.5 exposures keeps rolling in. Earlier this month, Environmental Research published an article titled “Global mortality from outdoor fine particle pollution generated by fossil fuel...more
Environmental groups have sued the EPA to overturn its December 31st rule retaining Obama Era National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone. The suit alleges that the Trump EPA ignored science and mounting...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 Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a final rule retaining the current National Ambient Air Quality Standard (“NAAQS”). This leaves in place the ozone NAAQS that was promulgated during the...more
On December 23, 2020, EPA formalized its decision to leave the ozone NAAQS unchanged, at 70 ppb. I don’t think that this decision is in the same category of egregiousness as EPA’s recent decision not to reduce the PM2.5...more
A coalition of environmental groups represented by Earthjustice put the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on notice they intend to file a Clean Air Act citizen suit action over the agency’s alleged failure...more
The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) issued a draft report titled: Ozone Season Summary 2019 (“Report”) - The Report provides the results of DEQ sampling during...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Clean Air Scientific Air Committee (“CASAC”) has memorialized its disagreement with the a key recommendation of an EPA staff draft policy assessment for a Clean Air...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 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
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality announced that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has stated that Arkansas is in attainment state-wide with the 2015 Ground-Level National Ambient Air...more
The status of a controversial rule establishing more stringent ambient air quality standards for ozone—promulgated by former President Barack Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—remains unclear following a series of...more
New Standards Could be Costly for California’s Public Agencies - The United States Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule earlier this month strengthening the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for...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