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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 […]
On its way to becoming a final rule, an odd thing happened to an EPA proposal that would withdraw requirements promulgated by the Obama administration—major players in the affected sector itself have come out against the proposal and requested that the Agency preserve the provisions it wants to eliminate.
In October 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1057, a bill specifically intended to change the primary mission of the state Division of Oil , Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) from increasing production of oil and natural gas (O&G) in the state to ensuring that the regulation of O&G provides protection of public health […]
The Trump administration is relying heavily on its environmental authority to try to reverse the declining role of coal in energy generation. Under both the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Agency has the power to regulate how much the coal-fired electricity sector must do and how much […]
In 2017, industrial activity accounted for 22% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, third behind transportation (29%) and electricity (28%). When adding indirect emissions from the off-site generation of electricity needed to power industrial facilities, the share increases to 29.7%.
With the Utility Water Act Group (UWAG) at its side, the EPA successfully defended itself against allegations by environmental groups that its postponement of several deadlines in its 2015 Effluent Limitations Guidelines [ELGs] and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category (2015 Rule) violated both the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Administrative […]
Proponents of energy infrastructure projects such as natural gas pipelines and electricity transmission lines that require federal licenses or permits welcomed an EPA proposal to amend regulations to implement the state certification process authorized by Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) for these projects.
The EPA’s proposed 2020 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) for petroleum refiners, which are required under the Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), were greeted with almost universal disapproval from the ethanol industry and the farmers who grow crops that are converted into ethanol.
The EPA is proposing not to use its authority under Section 108(b) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) to impose financial responsibility requirements on facilities in the electric power generation, transmission, and distribution sector.
For the second time in 3 years, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has cast doubt on whether the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is having any more than a negligible effect on U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs).