Your Guide to Emerging Issues in Environmental Regulation and Litigation.
California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) on Jan. 13 sent a letter to withdraw its request to the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Sections 209(b) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for a federal waiver that would require commercial truckers to switch to using zero-emissions vehicles in accordance with the CARB’s Advanced Clean Fleets regulation (ACF). …
Over the last six years, our firm has written extensively about 1,4-Dioxane, from U.S. EPA’s proclamations to state laws and regulations, litigation, and distinctions between federal and state perspectives. (see compilation of blog posts here.) Today we are providing an update on the EPA’s final revised Unreasonable Risk Determination for 1,4-Dioxane, which includes new air …
While ringing in the New Year, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the addition of nine per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances to the list of chemicals covered by the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) pursuant to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), making them the latest PFAS that can no longer be claimed as confidential …
SCOTUS Declines to Review EPA’s Authority on California’s Vehicle Emission Standards In a significant development for environmental law and state autonomy, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) recently declined to review whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to grant California a waiver to set its own greenhouse gas (GHG) …
Our blog has written on EPA’s placement of Trichloroethylene (TCE on the chopping block and the phase down of Perchloroethylene (PCE). And early this week, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized those proposed rules with the latest risk management regulations for those two chemicals. Under the rule, “all uses of TCE will be banned over time (with the …
The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Nov. 12 its final rule to further reduce methane emissions from oil and gas industries as required under the Inflation Reduction Act. In particular, Congress established a Waste Emissions Charge for high-emitting oil and gas facilities once emissions exceed 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year to …
Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) is a very reactive, brown-hued gas commonly produced when fuels are burned at high temperature by motor vehicles, chemical plants, etc. Industries will often intentionally oxidize NOx to produce lacquers, dies, and Nitric Acid, which is basic component in both fertilizers and explosives. When NOx is released into the atmosphere as an …
During the first week of oral arguments of its new term, the U.S. Supreme Court heard City & County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency. (Audio of the roughly 90-minute proceedings can be found here.) This case marks the court’s first look at the Clean Water Act following its decimation last term of the …
On October 16, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attempt to block the implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s latest effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from power plants while the EPA is being challenged in pending court proceedings, but three justices indicated they had concerns with the rule’s legality. The October 16 …
As our blog has reported frequently, the Environmental Protection Agency announced an ambitious national strategy to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Dubbed a “roadmap,” the EPA says it is centered on three guiding strategies focused on research, restrictions, and remediation. Specifically: “Increase investments in research, leverage authorities to take action now to restrict PFAS …