On Friday, June 28, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in one of the most consequential administrative law cases in decades. In Loper Bright v. Raimondo (consolidated with Relentless v. Department of Commerce), the...more
7/2/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Authority ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Relentless Inc v US Department of Commerce ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statutory Interpretation
Last week, the United States Supreme Court held in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (No. 20-1530) that EPA may not rely upon Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act to “force a nationwide transition away from the...more
On August 13, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued two rules (Policy Amendments and Technical Amendments) to roll back portions of its 2012 and 2016 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for the Oil...more
In December 2011, the EPA announced the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), commonly referred to as the MATS rule. The MATS rule governs the emission of mercury from electric power...more
In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the controversial “Clean Power Plan,” which was immediately the subject of a legal challenge and was subsequently stayed by the United States Supreme Court....more
12/11/2018
/ Clean Air Act ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Coal-Fired Plants ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) ,
Power Plants ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Reform ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Trump Administration
Two years ago, the EPA adopted the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) Subpart OOOOa (commonly known as the Methane Rule), which allowed the EPA – for the first time – to regulate directly the emissions of methane gas...more
9/14/2018
/ Appeals ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Methane ,
Moratorium ,
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Wells ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Public Comment ,
Reversal ,
Stays ,
Vacated
Mike Nasi, partner in our Austin office, joined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey at a Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) event to discuss the Clean Power Plan rules in...more
On Friday, July 15, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit handed the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) a stinging double defeat on its partial disapproval of Texas’ regional haze rule (the...more
7/21/2016
/ Air Pollution ,
Clean Air Act ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Implementation Plans (FIP) ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Jurisdiction ,
Likelihood of Success ,
Power Grid ,
State Implementation Plans (SIPs) ,
Venue
The EPA is moving forward with the second stage of the Climate Action Plan – regulation of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. Even while the first stage in President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the Clean Power...more
On February 9, 2016, the United States Supreme Court granted a stay of EPA's 111(d) Clean Power Plan rule imposing emissions limits on existing power plants. This stay effectively blocks the implementation of this highly...more
On October 23, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register its new rules to limit emissions from power plants. The most significant rule limits CO2 emissions from existing power plants....more
On October 1, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final rule lowering the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 70 ppb nationwide (2015 Ozone...more
On August 18, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") released and asked for comments on a number of proposed rules affecting the oil and gas industry. While the methane emission regulations have received the...more
On June 23, 2014, the Supreme Court, in a 5–4 decision,1 affirmed in part and reversed in part the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA") greenhouse gas ("GHG")...more
Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its rule proposal to regulate the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the entire existing U.S. fleet of coal, natural gas, and other fossil–fueled power...more
Electric utilities anticipate a summer of new EPA rules targeting the industry, including a proposed New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) greenhouse gas (GHG) rule for existing power plants, the finalization of the NSPS GHG...more
5/7/2014
Last week saw two developments regarding EPA's regulation of greenhouse gases. On February 24, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. the Environmental Protection...more
On February 5, 2014, several news outlets reported that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") handed over permitting authority for greenhouse gases ("GHGs") to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality...more
On December 19, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule revising the definition of hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), to conditionally exclude carbon dioxide...more
On Oct. 15, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court granted six petitions for review challenging the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision affirming the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA") suite of greenhouse gas ("GHG")...more
On September 20, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) re-proposed its regulations to limit greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted from newly constructed power plants, known as the GHG New Source Performance Standards...more
On April 19, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposed rule establishing Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category. Although...more