On Thursday, EPA finalized revisions to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS (also known as “Utility MACT”). The most significant change was to revise the mercury emissions standard from 0.0002 pounds per...more
4/1/2013
- Boiler MACT Rule EPA
Yesterday, in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center, the Supreme Court ruled that runoff from logging roads does not constitute a discharge from a point source that requires an NPDES permit. The decision upholds...more
3/21/2013
- Discharge of Pollutants EPA Logging NPDES SCOTUS
On Wednesday, in Alabama Environmental Council v. EPA, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected EPA’s 2011 disapproval of Alabama’s opacity regulation. The case involves relatively obscure provisions of the Clean Air Act,...more
3/11/2013
- Clean Air Act DOJ EPA Opacity Regulations SIP
As readers of this blog know, EPA’s use of guidance is a frequent pet peeve of mine. The issue has arisen with particular force in connection with EPA’s efforts to define Clean Water Act jurisdiction following the Supreme...more
2/27/2013
- Clean Water Act EPA Obama Administration OMB Wetlands
Last week, MassDEP released new guidance on how it is assessing exposures to TCE in light of EPA new assessment of TCE risks released in September 2011. The biggest issue is that concerns about fetal exposure have caused...more
1/30/2013
- Air Quality Standards EPA Imminent Harm MassDEP
Today, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia declined EPA’s petition for rehearing en banc in EME Homer City Generation v. EPA, leaving the original panel decision striking down EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution...more
1/28/2013
- Clean Air Interstate Rule Cross-State Air Pollution EPA
In Sierra Club v. EPA, issued today, The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected EPA’s rules governing “significant impact levels” and “significant monitoring concentrations” for determining PSD permitting...more
1/23/2013
- Appeals Clean Air Act EPA Extraordinarily Rigid Permits PSD
On Friday, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected EPA’s approach to implementation of the PM2.5 NAAQS. The fine particulate NAAQS was first published in 1997, and EPA issued implementation rules...more
1/8/2013
- EPA NAAQS
Last Friday, just in time for the Christmas holiday, EPA finalized revisions to the Boiler MACT rule. As it has done with other significant rules, EPA basically fine-tuned the existing rule, responding to some specific...more
12/28/2012
- Boiler MACT Rule EPA
On Friday, EPA announced promulgation of its revised fine particulate, or PM2.5, NAAQS. Why am I yawning? Let me count the ways...more
12/17/2012
- EPA NAAQS
A story in today’s BNA Daily Environment Report notes that several representatives of industry interests are asking EPA to hold off on issuing its much-anticipated vapor intrusion guidance until it can be subject to public...more
12/12/2012
- EPA Vapor Intrusion Guidance
Last week, EPA announced that it had reached yet one more – its 24th – settlement under as a result of its NSR enforcement initiative. This time, it was Louisiana Generating’s Big Cajun II plant, in New Roads, Louisiana. By...more
12/1/2012
- EPA Settlement
On Tuesday, EPA issued its “reinterpretation" of its understanding of what building wastes constitute “PCB bulk product waste” under TSCA regulations, as opposed to “PCB remediation waste." Previously, when PCBs migrated from...more
11/26/2012
- EPA TSCA
