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Stating that the Trump EPA cannot use a general provision of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to negate a specific provision of the Act, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated an Agency final rule that sought to delay by 20 months the effective date of the Obama EPA’s […]
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied an industry petition that sought to compel the EPA to issue nationally uniform regulations to resolve differences created by inconsistent decisions by regional federal circuit courts. Generally, the panel found that the Clean Air Act (CAA) section the petitioners relied on to […]
On April 30, 2018, the EPA issued a rule with final designations under the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone for almost all U.S. counties not previously designated.
In one of its major end-of-year actions, the EPA on Wednesday released its final renewal fuel standards (RFS) for 2017 and, for biomass-based diesel, for 2018. The Agency increased the RFS percentages across all categories of biofuels, an action that was welcomed by RFS advocates and criticized by the petroleum industry as burdening consumers with […]
In one of its major end-of-year actions, the EPA on Wednesday, released its final renewal fuel standards (RFS) for 2017 and, for biomass-based diesel, for 2018. The Agency increased the RFS percentages across all categories of biofuels, an action that was welcomed by RFS advocates and criticized by the petroleum industry as burdening consumers with […]
We recently encountered a list of the 10 most common Clean Air Act (CAA) violations, which included failure of facilities to track the loss of regulated refrigerants from equipment. (Seven of the other violations relate to permits.) In fact, tracking the loss of a refrigerant and recordkeeping in general are major responsibilities under EPA’s refrigerant […]
A U.S. district court judge in West Virginia has ordered the EPA to meet the requirement in Section 321(a) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), which states that the Agency “shall conduct continuing evaluations of potential shifts in employment” and “threatened plant closures and reductions in employment” resulting from “administration or enforcement” of the Act. […]
In its continuing effort to bring its Clean Air Act (CAA) greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations in line with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA (UARG v. EPA), the Agency is proposing several amendments to provisions in its Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program. Essentially, the proposal describes specific conditions […]
In anticipation of international adoption of an amendment to the Montreal Protocol and also in fulfillment of parts of President Obama’s June 2013 Climate Action Plan (CAP), the EPA has issued two final rules that will reduce releases of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) to the atmosphere.
On September 27, 10 justices of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments from 16 attorneys divided over the legality of EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP). The hearing comprised a morning session that addressed whether authority for the EPA to promulgate the CCP exists in the Clean Air Act (CAA) […]