Enforcement Relief: What New Regulatory Reforms Could Mean for Hospices
As discussed in our earlier Client Alerts, California recently passed several laws requiring certain climate-related corporate disclosures, including, for example, regarding emissions and climate-related financial risk. As...more
Historically, regulations under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) and related state laws divided the world into “stationary” and “non-stationary sources.” “Stationary sources” included facilities like power plants and factories...more
As we enter 2024, we once again review the most significant legislation, policy changes and regulatory actions with respect to climate change taken by California in the past year. In contrast to 2022, which brought a revamp...more
The Situation: The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") finalized regulations designed to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by 80% in coming years at both new and existing facilities. The regulations...more
In the Byzantine complexity of the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA’s “once in, always in” policy regarding hazardous air pollutants (HAP) has been particularly confounding. And now it’s back in play, through regulatory revisions...more
A combined 82 Senators and Members of the United States House of Representatives sent a May 22nd letter to United States Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan addressing certain aspects of EPA’s proposed...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
On January 6, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA) released a pre-publication copy of a Proposed Rule, which will lower the annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter...more
On April 8, 2022, U.S. EPA added the industrial solvent 1-bromopropane (1-BP) to its list of CERCLA hazardous substances; this listing was triggered by U.S. EPA’s decision to add 1-BP to the Clean Air Act’s list of hazardous...more
After years of attempts with varying success to regulate methane emissions from new oil and gas wells, the Biden administration has shifted strategy in proposing a regulatory program covering both new and existing oil and...more
The first action proposes first-time emission guidelines to reduce methane emissions from almost 1 million existing oil and gas wells, almost 2,000 existing interstate natural gas compressor stations, and over 500 existing...more
In the upcoming weeks, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is expected to release a proposed rule that would greatly expand methane regulations for the oil and gas sector. While EPA has previously issued regulations...more
Just over 100 days into the Biden-Harris administration, the course being charted by the government for automobile emissions and emerging automotive mobility technologies is becoming clearer. ...more
EPA and OMB issue directives and propose an initial budget for the Biden Administration’s EJ initiatives - With the Biden Administration’s appointees now in place, environmental justice (EJ) is moving to the forefront of...more
Within hours after being sworn into office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order (“EO”) that teed up a slew of clean air issues as top environmental priorities. The Biden administration signaled its plan to unwind...more
New EPA rule aims to limit tough clean air measures under Biden - The New York Times – December 9 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this Wednesday completed a rule that could weaken federal authority to...more
With the 2020 election now called, though yet to be conceded, questions abound as to what the environmental regulatory landscape may look like under a Biden/Harris administration. For California, we don’t expect much of a...more
The Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board (“TACB”) issued a March 4th Technical Secretary’s Order and Assessment of Civil Penalty (“Order”) addressing an alleged air permit violation by State Industries, LLC (“State”). See...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a March 25th Notification of Evaluation titled: Status of Clean Air Act State Implementation Plan Submittals and Approvals...more
On 31 March 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a new joint rule finalizing the Trump administration's fuel...more
Action May Have Far-Reaching Impacts - Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) announced a joint rule intended to substantially affect...more
In 2002, EPA promulgated a Clean Air Act new source review (NSR) “reform rule” to clarify the confusion created by inconsistent guidance and judicial decisions on NSR applicability. That clarification effort had only limited...more
As President Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Andrew Wheeler, cleared a key committee vote this week, a conflict between EPA and the State of California over tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions shows...more
In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the controversial “Clean Power Plan,” which was immediately the subject of a legal challenge and was subsequently stayed by the United States Supreme Court....more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a draft November 2018 policy document titled: Revised Policy on Exclusions from “Ambient Air” (“Draft Policy”) - EPA states by way of introduction that...more