Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The attorneys general (AGs) of states that successfully petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to stay EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) while litigation on the CPP proceeds in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit are now asking the Agency to extend by at least 60 days the current August 29, 2016, deadline for […]
In today’s world, underground storage tanks (USTs) contain an assortment of products ranging from gasoline to diesel to biofuels to hazardous chemical substances. Because of the wide swath of fuels and chemical substances available, it is imperative for tank owners to ensure that the tank itself is compatible with the substance stored. Storing certain fuels […]
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has been closely monitoring and reporting on how EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS) are impacting electricity generation in the United States. As the latest EIA preliminary data show, the scrutiny is well deserved. Based on information received from operators, between January 2015 and April 2016, about 87 […]
The Cape Wind Project (Project), now midway through its second decade of planning without a single turbine standing, encountered another hurdle when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a multipart decision that agreed with two out of three claims environmental groups have made against the Project. Importantly, the court said the […]
On June 22, 2016, President Obama signed the Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act (PIPES Act). The law, which received strong bipartisan support, extends and funds through 2019 the gas and hazardous liquid pipeline safety program implemented by the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
A Minnesota law that prohibits utilities from meeting state electricity demand with power from new plants that contribute to statewide carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions was found in violation of the Constitution’s dormant Commerce Clause because the law places an undue burden on interstate commerce.
A U.S. district judge in Wyoming has “set aside” the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) final rule imposing environmentally protective requirements on hydraulically fractured oil and gas (O&G) wells on federal and Indian lands.
There should be little difficulty understanding the pollutant effluent limits in the EPA’s final pretreatment standards for onshore unconventional oil and gas (UOG) extraction facilities because the limits are zero. The pertinent addition to the Code of Federal Regulations is as follows:
Important legal battles over whether states or local governments have the authority to ban or otherwise regulate unconventional oil and gas (O&G) development, which includes hydraulic fracturing, are being fought in state courts. The Colorado Supreme Court has been heavily involved in this issue, recently handing down two decisions that affirm that state law preempts […]
Following the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf Coast, the Department of the Interior (DOI) bureau in charge of issuing and enforcing environmental and safety regulations acted relatively quickly to release its drilling safety rule (August 2012).