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On October 22, 2020, the EPA finalized a rule to streamline and improve the Clean Air New Source Review (NSR) permitting process. It specifically clarifies the process to evaluate when an NSR preconstruction permit is required when an existing major emitter facility makes changes.
On October 9, 2020, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler issued a memorandum to EPA regional administrators addressing “the question of whether and when it may be permissible for a state to include certain types of provisions governing periods of startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM) in state implementation plans (SIPs) developed pursuant to section 110 of the […]
The Business Roundtable (BRT), whose membership includes more than 200 major corporate CEOs, released a publication, “Addressing Climate Change,” reflecting the group’s recommendations for a carbon emissions pricing policy and other market-based principles in response to climate change.
On September 17, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted an administrative stay on the EPA’s implementation of its rollback of oil and gas methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions limits.
With an estimated 738 facilities, the municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill sector is one of the largest industry sectors subject to the Clean air Act’s (CAA) National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP).
In a comment letter, Illinois Attorney General (AG) Kwame Raoul and 10 other state AGs have urged the U.S. EPA to propose regulatory revisions that will adequately protect the public and the environment from the risks posed by emissions of ethylene oxide (EtO) from commercial sterilization and fumigation operations. High on the list of requested […]
According to projections by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the United States from burning fossil fuels to generate energy will decrease during the early to mid-2020s but will then begin to increase all the way to 2050. The reason, says the EIA, is that “economic growth and increasing […]
In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court of Washington State upheld a ruling by a lower court that found that the state’s Department of Ecology (Ecology) exceeded its statutory authority by promulgating a regulation that imposed greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards on indirect emitters of those gases. According to the majority, the “plain language” of […]
In a petition that captured the public’s attention when it was filed 5 years ago, 21 plaintiffs, aged 7 to 19, asked a U.S. District Court to order the federal government to “phase out fossil fuel emissions and draw down excess atmospheric CO2 so as to stabilize the climate system.”
In a majority opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed a petition from the state of California and environmental groups to have the court review the legality of a memo William L. Wehrum, the assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, issued to all Regional Air Division directors.