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
New administration offers opportunity for engagement on attainment status and to reduce potential compliance costs of 2015 ozone standards. Over the past four decades, compliance with the ozone National Ambient Air...more
On October 1, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a prepublication version of a final rule establishing a new National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. The final rule lowers the primary and secondary...more
NEW REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS - Federal - Final 2014 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan and 2014 Annual Effluent Guidelines Review Report EPA is announcing the availability of its Final 2014 Effluent Guidelines...more
The Final EPA Rule under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) emissions standards for the Startup, Shutdown, and Malfunction (“SSM”) Rule is out. EPA issued the Final Rule on May 22, 2015 and it’s even worse than when proposed. I...more
Earlier this week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted part of a petition challenging EPA’s approval of California’s SIP for ozone and PM 2.5 in the San Joaquin Valley. While the trade press has been focusing on the...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Sierra Club have entered into a proposed consent decree that would partially resolve a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club against the agency. Notice of the proposed...more
On February 12, 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in El Comite Para El Bienestar De Earlimart v. EPA, a case challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of provisions in a...more
The D.C. Circuit, by majority decision, upheld MATS, which requires coal- and oil-fired power plants to reduce emissions of mercury, arsenic, chromium, and other air pollutants. When the EPA adopted MATS in 2011, it did not...more
On April 24, the Supreme Court issued a 6-2 decision in EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P., No. 12-1182, 572 U. S. ____, 2014 WL 1672044 (2014), upholding EPA’s latest version of a regional cap-and-trade program under the...more
On Tuesday, April 29, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (“CSAPR”). EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P., No. 12-1182. In a 6-2 decision,...more
The Clean Air Act of 1970 (CAA) requires that states be “Good Neighbors” and regulate their in-state sources of pollution so that those sources do not “contribute significantly” to pollution in other states downwind. ...more
On Friday, in GenOn REMA v. EPA, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that, in response to a petition from a downwind state under § 126 of the Clean Air Act, EPA may issue a rule imposing emission limits on a source in the...more
The recent decision in Sierra Club v. EPA, 705 F.3d 458 (D.C. Cir. 2013) vacated all of EPA’s rules on Significant Monitoring Concentrations (“SMCs”), as well as some (the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (“PSD”)...more