The Trump administration is offering coal-fired power plants and other industrial facilities an opportunity to obtain exemptions from Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements designed to reduce emissions of chemicals such as mercury,...more
On March 13, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would move forward with reconsideration of the Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding (Endangerment Finding) as directed in President Trump’s Executive Order...more
On March 14, 2025, President Trump signed legislation disapproving the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation implementing the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax on methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The Joint...more
The Biden administration's rule requiring the payment of a fee for methane emissions has effectively been rescinded, although, for now at least, the statutory provision imposing the fee remains in effect along with other...more
Senate Bill 726 has been introduced into the 83rd Oregon Legislative Assembly which would address municipal solid waste landfills. The Bill would require the owner or operator of a municipal solid waste landfill to...more
The Biden administration introduced wide-ranging environmental regulations with profound and far-reaching effects on the environment and the economy. In its first two weeks, the Trump administration has signaled an attempt...more
A group of 23 Republican AGs filed a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit of the EPA’s Final Rule requiring charges on certain oil and gas producers exceeding Congressional methane emissions...more
The Trump administration is expected to take quick and decisive action to weaken the IRA once he takes office. Trump’s vow to end delays in federal drilling permits and leases for oil and gas production could benefit...more
California officials have been working on a plan to preserve the state’s leading edge environmental and climate policies, in the event that former President Donald J. Trump returns to the White House and follows through on...more
On 15 July 2024, “Regulation (EU) 2024/1787 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 on the reduction of methane emissions in the energy sector and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/942” (the “EU Methane...more
On July 9, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) declined to stay a new Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) rule that seeks to limit methane emissions in the oil...more
The Biden-Harris Administration recently issued a suite of new rules aimed at addressing water and air quality, reducing methane emissions, protecting environmental justice communities, and accelerating the nation’s...more
This week, we discuss a downward revision to electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc.’s governance grade and the equally controversial topic of diverging ESG ratings methodologies. Investigative findings published in May this...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday finalized tougher methane reporting standards that could increase the number of oil and gas companies that must pay fees for excess methane emissions....more
On March 4, 2024, MethaneSat, a satellite developed by a subsidiary of the Environmental Defense Fund that will locate and quantify methane emissions from oil and gas operations, was launched into orbit. According to the...more
A stream of judicial decisions in the pipeline will have important implications for the energy industry. The three cases discussed below are among those that energy litigators and industry professionals are watching in 2024....more
On January 12, 2024, the EPA announced a proposed new rule entitled Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems (the "Proposed Rule"). As required by Congress pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act ("IRA"),...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has proposed regulations for calculating methane emissions fees required beginning this year under the Inflation Reduction Act ("IRA"). Section 136 of the Clean Air Act (added...more
PM NAAQS: Already behind schedule is perhaps the mostly widely impactful rule change EPA has proposed in many years: a lowering of the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). EPA has...more
The Situation: The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") finalized regulations designed to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by 80% in coming years at both new and existing facilities. The regulations...more
The Environmental Protection Agency on Oct. 19 released new reports regarding the impact of methane emissions from food waste. As previously discussed in this space[i], many states have passed regulations to address methane...more
Good afternoon! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past week and forthcoming climate-related events and hearings......more
Biomethane is indistinguishable from natural gas and can be deployed as a drop-in renewable replacement to natural gas without the need for adaptation of network infrastructure or end-user equipment. The scale of...more
In 2015, California’s former governor Edmund Brown Jr. set methane emissions-reduction targets for the state. Senate Bill 1383 requires that California reduce organic waste disposal 75 percent by the year 2025. Although most...more
EPA floats sharply increased social cost of carbon - E&E News – November 21 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new estimate for the social cost of carbon emissions, nearly quadrupling an interim...more