A Kentucky federal district court judge last Friday denied the state’s request to block the Biden administration’s new regulation redefining federally regulated “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) from taking effect within the commonwealth. The court held that Kentucky and the other plaintiffs, a group of construction and other business organizations, lacked legal standing to bring the case, stating that “the claimed financial and sovereignty injuries are too speculative to constitute injuries in fact.” Meanwhile, officials and attorneys on both sides of the debate over the Biden WOTUS regulation are awaiting a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court before late June in the Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency case, which also could impact the validity or scope of the WOTUS rule. The Kentucky decision comes after another recent federal court decision enjoining the rule from taking effect in Texas and Idaho. In a third federal court case pending in North Dakota, 24 states seek judicial invalidation of the rule.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday announced a settlement with Valero Refining-California to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act's Chemical Accident Prevention regulations at its Benicia Refinery. Valero will pay a $1,224,550 penalty and make changes to improve process safety at the refinery. According to EPA, the “significant chemical incidents” occurred in 2017 and 2019 and forced people in the surrounding neighborhoods to shelter in place because of the risk of exposure to harmful chemicals. EPA alleged that its 2019 inspection at the facility identified several areas of noncompliance, including a failure by Valero to report releases of hazardous substances on a timely basis, update certain process safety information, adequately analyze certain process hazards, and develop and implement certain written operating procedures.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit that Louisiana and other Republican-leaning states filed to challenge figures the Biden administration uses to calculate damages from greenhouse gas emissions. The unanimous decision by three judges on the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans was the latest defeat for states challenging the Biden “cost of carbon” policy, which allows the administration to continue using a damage cost estimate of about $51 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions. That estimate is under review by the administration and could increase.
A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered a San Jose construction company to immediately stop dumping hazardous and corrosive construction waste on protected agricultural land in rural Almaden Valley. The order against United Concrete Cutting Inc., of San Jose, follows a lawsuit filed by the Santa Clara County Office of the County Counsel, which alleges the company and several affiliated individuals were transporting hazardous concrete slurry waste from construction sites to a remote property in Almaden Valley, and then dumping the slurry into crudely dug pits. The county learned of the dumping through an anonymous complaint, which led to an extensive investigation that the county carried out in coordination with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.
The Biden administration cleared the way last Friday for California's plan to phase out a wide range of diesel-powered trucks as part of the state's efforts to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality in heavy-traffic areas like ports along the coast. EPA’s decision allows California — which has some of the nation's worst air pollution — to require truck manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission trucks over the next couple of decades. The rule applies to a wide range of trucks including box trucks, semitrailers, and large passenger pick-ups. The transportation sector accounts for nearly 40% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions.
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