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Thirty-nine U.S. states have failed to provide their revised regional haze state implementation plans (SIPs) as required by Section 304(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), according to a Notice of Intent (NOI) to file suit dated February 7, 2022, sent to the EPA by a coalition of environmental organizations, reports a Sierra Club press […]
The EPA announced a settlement with Par Hawaii Refining LLC on January 19 that included a $176,899 penalty over Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and Clean Air Act (CAA) violations at its oil refining facility in Kapolei, Hawaii. The company’s EPCRA violations included “failures to immediately notify the state emergency response commission and […]
In a report dated November 10, 2021, the EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) asserted, “The lack of five board members may prevent the [Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB)] from achieving its stated mission to ‘drive chemical safety change through independent investigation to protect people and the environment.’” The CSB was created by […]
In response to the U.S. and E.U. pledge to slash methane emissions worldwide 30% by 2030 at COP26 in Glasgow, on November 2, 2021, the EPA announced a proposed rule to cut methane emissions, including reductions from existing sources nationwide. “As global leaders convene at this pivotal moment in Glasgow for COP26, it is now […]
Just as Present Joseph Biden Jr. was preparing for the global climate summit (COP26), the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) announced it will hear four cases, likely to be consolidated, to determine the EPA’s authority to regulate emissions from power plants under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The October 29, 2021, announcement was the equivalent of […]
The EPA’s Spring Regulatory Agenda indicates it will amend volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions standards for Aerosol Coatings under Section 183(e) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The agency plans to complete the amended rule by year end 2021. Why Is This Action Necessary? Aerosol coatings regulations apply to aerosol spray paints, which have been […]
The EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a June 14, 2021, report that says continued delays by the EPA on State Implementation Plan (SIP) actions “increase the risk that state or local air agencies are not implementing plans sufficient to achieve or maintain the [National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)]” under the Clean Air […]
On April 7, 2021, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for Environmental Health filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the EPA due to missed deadlines in reviewing nonattainment state implementation plans (SIPs) in California and Chicago. The suit names Michael […]
On March 15, 2021, the EPA finalized revisions to the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) Update to reduce downwind pollution from power plants. This action, in response to the Wisconsin v. EPA ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in September 2019, is expected to help downwind states meet the 2008 […]
A three-judge panel in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded the Trump administration’s greenhouse gas emissions rule on January 19, 2021, 1 day before President Joseph Biden, Jr., took office.