On Friday, August 31, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unexpectedly granted a request to issue its mandate expeditiously following its decision regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) updates to the Risk Management Program (“RMP Update Rule”). With Friday’s issuance of the mandate, the RMP Update Rule is immediately effective and covered facilities are now subject to the requirements whose compliance deadlines have passed.

As discussed in our Client Alert issued last week, on August 17, 2018 the D.C. Circuit invalidated EPA’s June 2017 final rule delaying effectiveness of the RMP Update Rule. It was expected that the court’s mandate would issue in early October 2018 after EPA had received an opportunity to petition for rehearing. On August 24, 2018, Petitioners, including environmental groups and ten State Attorneys General, requested that the court grant expedited issuance in light of “serious and irreparable harm and imminent threats to public health and safety."