The Legal and Practical Challenges of California's Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation
Nota Bene Episode 101: Catching up with Global Climate Regulation with Nico van Aelstyn
Schoenbrod: SCOTUS Ruling Helps EPA Deal With a "Stupid Statute"
The Clean Air Act (“CAA”) envisions states and the federal government working together to improve air quality. Under the CAA, states must develop State Implementation Plans (“SIPs”) to implement National Ambient Air Quality...more
The Sierra Club filed a May 13th Title V Petition to Object (“Petition”) before the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) related to the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (“SRP”). ...more
The Biden-Harris Administration recently issued a suite of new rules aimed at addressing water and air quality, reducing methane emissions, protecting environmental justice communities, and accelerating the nation’s...more
Less than a month after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published environmental operational standards and greenhouse gas emission regulations for owners and operators of heavy-duty vehicles, including major freight...more
On Tuesday, in Ohio v. EPA, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied several challenges to EPA’s decision to restore California’s authority under § 209(b) of the Clean Air Act to regulate emissions from motor vehicles. It’s...more
The United States House of Representatives passed by partisan vote legislation denominated H.R. 7650 that would amend the Clean Air Act titled: “Air Quality Standards Implementation Act of 2024” (“Act”). The Act...more
Environmental regulations, including those under the California Air Resources Board’s (“CARB”) jurisdiction, present a complex compliance challenge for vehicle fleet managers and operations departments across the country....more
The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (“Court”) addressed in a March 1st Opinion an issue addressing start up, shut down and malfunction (“SSM”) provisions. See Environmental Committee of the Florida...more
On March 6, 2024, EPA published its final rule lowering the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standards (“NAAQS”) for fine particulate matter (“PM2.5”) to 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter (“µg/m3”). The new, more...more
Earlier this month, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals vacated most of EPA’s startup, shutdown, and malfunction SIP Call. The Court’s rationale boils down to EPA’s failure to make a predicate finding that the SIP call...more
On March 6, 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register its long-awaited reconsideration of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM). In...more
Twenty-four State Attorneys General filed a Petition for Review (“Petition for Review”) in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging a United States Environmental Protection Agency...more
Exercising one of its most important and far-reaching powers under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has lowered the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate...more
On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Final Rule lowering the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) from the current level...more
In March 2023, the EPA issued its final Good Neighbor Plan, the last in a series of legislations designed to reduce emissions of ozone-forming nitrogen oxide (NO2) which cross state borders. Specifically, the Plan was...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to require power plants and other stationary sources in five additional states to comply with the Good Neighbor Plan to ensure that these states do not unlawfully contribute...more
On Feb. 7, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published an update to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter, commonly referred to as PM 2.5. The EPA announced that the annual...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced today a final rule which will tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (“NAAQS”) for fine particulate matter. EPA previously: - Stated on June 10,...more
On February 7, 2024, EPA finalized a rule lowering the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM2.5 to 9.00 ug/m3. This is a significant reduction from the current 12.00 ug/m3 standard and a victory for...more
Today, on February 7, 2024, U.S. EPA announced its final air quality standard to govern fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), also known as soot. More specifically, U.S. EPA set an annual health-based national ambient air...more
On August 4, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (U.S. EPA) “Good Neighbor Plan (GNP)” went into effect, requiring power plants and certain industrial facilities to implement emissions reductions through...more
For anyone involved in the first round of the Clean Air Act regional haze program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) action on the first business day of 2024 came as no surprise: EPA proposed to disapprove the...more
The power to enforce a rule intended to slash air pollution associated with warehouses could one day rest in the hands of citizens who are willing to go to federal court. Several Inland members of Congress recently signed a...more
The United States Chamber of Commerce (“Chamber”) issued a November 2023 report titled: EPA’s Proposed Air Quality Standards Will Cause Permitting Gridlock Across Our Economy (“Report”)...more
An article in Science published last week indicates that the mortality risk from exposure to PM2.5 from coal-fired electric generating units is roughly twice as high as the risk posed by PM2.5 from other sources. According...more