On April 12, 2023, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced it has officially withdrawn a proposal for a variance to a state law regarding the use of diesel generators as backup power for data centers...more
As the cold weather season approaches, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) are taking action to prevent a repeat of the devastating electric power...more
Cities and Counties Must be Ready for Jan. 1 Effective Date - As wildfires and power shutoffs continue to impact large areas of California, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that requires expedited permitting of applications...more
When will Nursing Homes Be Ready? An entire hurricane season has come and gone, and over three-quarters of Florida’s nursing homes and assisted living facilities (ALF) have yet to comply with a state law requiring they ...more
On Nov. 16, 2018, the Florida Department of Revenue renewed Emergency Rule 12AER18-02, which implemented Section 56, Chapter 2018-118, Laws of Florida, providing for a sales tax exemption for equipment purchased to generate...more
On Monday, March 26, 2018, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed two bills into law that ratified the rules adopted by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and the Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA). The rules require...more
A February 15th post (see previous post here) noted that the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (“ADEQ”) and Lexicon, Inc., (“LI”) entered into a January 30th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing an...more
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (“ADEQ”) and Lexicon, Inc. (“LI”) entered into a January 30th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing an alleged violation of an air permit. See LIS No. 18-013. The...more
After Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida, a nursing home in South Florida lost power, and several residents of that nursing home died allegedly as the result of increased temperatures caused by the loss of air...more
The Agency for Health Care Administration and the Department of Elder Affairs have reissued Emergency Rules 59AER17-1 "Nursing Home Emergency Power Plan" and 58AER17-1 "Procedures Regarding Emergency Environmental Control for...more
On September 15, 2017, Florida Governor Rick Scott directed that by November 15, 2017, all nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the state were to install generators capable of powering air conditioning systems for...more
Florida Argentum reports that the Florida’s First District Court of Appeal issued a response to its motion filed last week and determined that an “automatic stay” of the Division of Administrative Hearings’ Final Order...more
Florida’s First District Court of Appeal issued a response to Florida Argentum’s motion filed last week and determined that an “automatic stay” of the Division of Administrative Hearings’ Final Order invalidating Emergency...more
On Friday, Judge Garnett W. Chisenhall, a duly-designated administrative law judge of the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings, issued a ruling invalidating emergency rules requiring all Florida nursing homes and...more
As previously reported, Florida regulators have published emergency rules requiring nursing homes and assisted living facilities (ALF) to obtain generators and fuel sufficient to keep their facilities at 80 degrees or less...more
As a result of Hurricane Irma, eight nursing home residents died after a power failure in a Hollywood, Florida nursing home. In the wake of that tragedy, on Sept. 18, 2017, Florida regulators published emergency rules...more
The annual report for emergency stationary combustion engines ("emergency engines") must be submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") by March 31, 2016. You are required to submit this report to EPA if you...more
For those operations that use emergency (backup) generators as part of a demand response program, a recent court decision will allow you to continue such use for up to a total of 100 hours per year, at least until May 1,...more
On May 1, 2015, the D.C. Circuit in Delaware v. EPA vacated a portion of EPA’s National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) and New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Reciprocating Internal...more
One of the most important and sobering lessons learned in the wake of Superstorm Sandy was how susceptible New Jersey’s critical facilities, such as water and wastewater treatment centers, transportation centers, emergency...more
On October 19, 2013 all spark-ignition (natural gas or gasoline-fired) Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine (RICE) units are required to be in compliance with the RICE MACT. By that date facilities with RICE units must...more
Backup generators used in a broad range of industries, including medical, agriculture, and oil and gas production facilities, are now subject to new emission standards. New EPA regulations for reciprocating internal...more
On January 30, 2013, EPA published amendments to its regulations at 40 C.F.R. Part 63, Subpart ZZZZ (aka EPA’s RICE Rule) regulating emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from reciprocating internal combustion engines...more