On April 17, 2024, EPA formalized a new policy requiring greater coordination between its criminal and civil enforcement programs. This change, which comes amidst a substantial jump in civil and criminal enforcement actions, ...more
On February 7, 2024, EPA released its final rule tightening the annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (“NAAQS”) for fine particulate matter (“PM2.5”), from 12 µg/m3 to 9 µg/m3. EPA’s decision to drop the standard to...more
Citing low compliance rates with air quality requirements, the New Mexico Environmental Department (NMED) has announced it is ramping up compliance assurance and enforcement activities at oil and gas operations within the...more
In a decision with implications for air permitting across the West, a divided three-judge panel of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded EPA’s approval of Colorado’s state implementation plan (SIP) based...more
Concurrent with commitments made during the twenty-sixth meeting of the United Nations’ COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, the Biden Administration released two significant policies aimed at analyzing and curtailing the...more
12/2/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Land Management ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Methane ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda
The swearing-in of Michael Regan as EPA Administrator means that open questions on policy, agenda-setting, and prioritization for the Agency will soon be answered. Issues that have risen to the top of the new EPA...more
3/30/2021
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Coal ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
NAAQS ,
NEPA ,
OMB ,
PFAS ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Risk Management ,
Safe Drinking Water Act ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ,
Waters of the United States
Right out of the box, the Biden Administration took a decisive stance on the importance of climate costs in agency decision making, returning to Obama-era metrics and values. On his first day in office, President Biden issued...more
3/23/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
NEPA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Working Groups
On March 26, 2020 EPA issued a temporary policy for enforcement of environmental legal obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy provides the framework for the agency's use of its enforcement discretion where...more