I noted in yesterday’s post about the NHTSA proposal to withdraw the SAFE I Rule that EPA was expected to follow the NHTSA action by restoring the Clean Air Act Section 209 waiver for California’s Advanced Clean Car program....more
4/27/2021
/ California ,
Clean Air Act ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
National Highway Safety Administration ,
NHTSA ,
Proposed Rules ,
Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule (SAFE Rule) ,
State and Local Government ,
Waivers
Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed to withdraw Part I of the Trump Administration’s SAFE Rule, in which EPA had concluded that California’s regulation of motor vehicle GHG emissions was...more
4/27/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
California ,
Clean Air Act ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Motor Vehicles ,
National Highway Safety Administration ,
Proposed Rules ,
Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule (SAFE Rule) ,
Trump Administration ,
Waivers
The President today formally announced that the United States was pledging to reduce its emissions by 50% from 2005 levels by 2030. The announcement isn’t a surprise, but that doesn’t lessen its importance. So large a...more
In January, when Governor Baker vetoed the Legislature’s effort to go big on climate, my colleague Zach Gerson made clear that the bill was not even “mostly dead.” I am pleased to say that Zach’s diagnosis was correct. The...more
3/23/2021
/ Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Governor Baker ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Net Zero ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Renewable Energy ,
Renewable Energy Incentives ,
State and Local Government
Last month, I posted about the Biden administration’s effort to develop a new estimate of the social cost of carbon. The EO requires a new interim SCC within 30 days and a new longer-term SCC by January 2022...more
Yesterday, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. It’s even more comprehensive than last week’s order. Indeed, my main reaction to the order isn’t to any of the specific...more
Among the important provisions of President Biden’s Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis is the requirement to review and revise estimates of the...more
Yesterday was the last full day of President Trump’s term. On environmental issues, it closed on a fitting note – another major judicial defeat. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals vacated EPA’s Affordable Clean...more
Over the past decade, there has been an unprecedented shift in investor focus toward the analysis use of Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) risks and impacts in investment decision-making. While the...more
12/4/2020
/ Alaska ,
Chevron Deference ,
Citizen Suits ,
Clean Air Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Mining ,
Non-Delegation Doctrine ,
Permits ,
SCOTUS
Last week, Judge James Jones declined to issue a preliminary injunction that would have prevented implementation of the Trump Administration’s NEPA revisions. Judge Jones’s explanation was fairly sparse. He merely noted that...more
On Tuesday, Judge John Koeltl ordered EPA to issue a final rule addressing its obligations under the Good Neighbor provisions of the Clean Air Act by no later than March 15, 2021.Two aspects of the decision are worth note...more
CEQ has finalized revisions to the NEPA regulations. I don’t have too much to add to my post on the proposed rule back in January. NEPA needs reform. These regulations, however, are not the reform NEPA needs...more
There have been numerous studies that support a decrease in the current PM2.5 annual standard of 12 ug/m3. EPA has nonetheless proposed to retain the current standard on the basis that there is too much uncertainty regarding...more
Sometimes, history repeats itself. Sometimes, that is not a good thing.
After the Obama WOTUS rule was promulgated in 2015, the challenges came fast and furious, and in multiple forums. The Supreme Court, as I put it,...more
Greenwire reported today that two medical sterilization facilities in Georgia that had been shut down or had production limited due to concerns about exposures to ethylene oxide would be allowed to increase operations in...more
Ever since President Nixon visited China, significantly contributing to a thawing of the Cold War, the phrase “Nixon in China” has referred to any situation where a leader makes a policy move that would have been more...more
Earlier this month, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a long-term failure by a state to submit to EPA a TMDL for an impaired water can constitute a “constructive submission” of no TMDL, triggering an obligation on...more
On December 17, 2019, I noted with enthusiasm the announcement that the states participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative had released a new draft Memorandum of Understanding outlining the framework of what...more
The 12 states and the District of Columbia participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative announced yesterday the release of a new draft Memorandum of Understanding that outlines the framework of what they are...more
12/18/2019
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Fees ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Motor Vehicles ,
Oil & Gas ,
Transportation Industry ,
Wholesale
The New York Citizens Budget Commission has released a report regarding the state’s ability to meet its ambitious GHG reduction targets. It’s sobering reading. The CBC states that it is “uncertain” whether New York can meet...more
EPA Administrator Wheeler has distributed a “Revised Policy on Exclusions from ‘Ambient Air’”. Here’s the short version. EPA has long defined “ambient air” as outside air “to which the general public has access.”...more
Last week, Pope Francis announced that the Catholic Church was considering introducing into the Catechism “the sin against ecology, the ecological sin against the common home.”
My immediate question on seeing this...more
Last week, BioScience published the “World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency.” It’s actually a nice piece of work – short, readable, to the point. In barely 4 pages, it concisely summarizes the fine mess we’ve gotten...more
According to Bloomberg Environment (subscription required), EPA’s Clean Air Science Advisory Committee cannot reach agreement whether to recommend that the NAAQS for PM2.5 be lowered. Even after two years, I guess I had not...more
10/31/2019
/ Agency Deference ,
Air Pollution ,
Air Quality Standards ,
Chevron Deference ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NAAQS ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Risk Assessment ,
Scientific Evidence
On Tuesday, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals vacated EPA’s “Close-Out Rule,” which basically concluded that upwind states contributing to exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone in downwind...more
10/3/2019
/ Air Pollution ,
Air Quality Standards ,
Appeals ,
Clean Air Act ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NAAQS ,
Ozone ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Vacated