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The world’s nations took another step toward addressing the perils of climate change at the latest Conference of the Parties (COP24), which concluded December 15, 2018, in Katowice, Poland. The most important product of COP24 appears to be a “rulebook” that will govern the implementation of the 2015 Paris Climate Accord. Under the Paris agreement, […]
Public comment on the EPA’s proposed Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule closed October 30, 2018, and, as expected, the thousands of responses highlighted the radically diverse opinions on coal-fired energy and climate change held by Americans and industry stakeholders. The ACE proposal (August 31, 2018, Federal Register (FR)) comprised revisions of three existing regulations contained […]
An apparent attempt by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to reverse its previous findings about the potentially detrimental impacts of a proposed 600-mile natural pipeline crossing two national forests as well as the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (ANST) was in violation of multiple federal laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), concluded a panel […]
The EPA’s definition of ambient air—and specifically which air is not considered ambient—is a critical consideration in Clean Air Act regulatory decisions.
With the release of their proposed redefinition of the Clean Water Act (CWA) term waters of the United States (WOTUS), the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are, technically at least, midway in their journey toward replacing the Obama administration’s 2015 WOTUS definition. The prepublication version of the proposal is available here.
After grumbling that it intended to resist implementing the revised National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone it issued in 2015, in August 2018, the EPA informed a federal court that it had decided to uphold and defend the NAAQS as they had been promulgated. That decision set in motion the Agency’s responsibility to […]
The EPA’s use of its Clean Air Act (CAA) authority to grant waivers from Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) obligations to small refineries has for years been a top issue of contention associated with the RFS. The Agency’s use of the waiver has continued to spark negative reactions from renewable fuel advocates following the Agency’s issuance […]
Responding to concerns expressed by retailers of certain residential woodburning heaters, the EPA is proposing to provide these entities time to sell these devices beyond what was allowed in the Agency’s 2015 amendments to its New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) covering a range of heaters.
Two EPA offices have issued memos revising and/or clarifying Agency policies on collecting information from the regulated community.
As we reported this summer, the EPA has embarked on a study to find alternatives to the common practice of disposing of produced water from oil and natural gas (O&G) development into underground injection wells. Since then, there have been two developments linked to the study.