The Waste-to-Energy Association (“WTEA”) submitted July 1st comments to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) addressing the proposed rule styled: Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and...more
New guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) sheds light on how the agency intends to incorporate environmental justice (“EJ”)1 into air permitting programs across the country. The direct effect of the...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) stated in a November16th letter that an oil refinery on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands may not resume operations without going through New Source Review (“NSR”)....more
On October 14, 2022, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed changes to its New Source Review (NSR) regulations that would expand the number of projects that trigger NSR permitting at existing facilities by...more
Four years ago, EPA published its “Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR): Aggregation; Reconsideration” (New Source Review (NSR) Aggregation Action). 83 Fed. Reg. 57324...more
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has largely affirmed a District Court order finding that Ameren Missouri violated the NSR provisions of the Clean Air Act in making major modifications to its Rush Island facility. The...more
On March 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied a challenge to a more than decade-old EPA rule related to the records that source owners must keep in order to support claims that certain of their activities...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced on October 22nd it had finalized certain New Source Review (“NSR”) regulations associated with the Clean Air Act Prevention of Significant Deterioration...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Consistent with guidance issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in March 2018, the Agency has now proposed to codify changes to the New Source Review (NSR) applicability regulations to clarify...more
Late last month, Federal Judge Rodney Sippel ruled that EPA could obtain injunctive relief against Ameren Missouri in the long-running NSR enforcement case concerning Ameren’s Rush Island Plant. The Court had already ruled...more
Earlier this month, EPA released its recommendations for its National Compliance Initiatives for 2020-2023. I face a dilemma in posting about the NCI, because I actually agree with the two biggest changes EPA is proposing....more
After 10 years on ice, EPA’s 2009 project aggregation rule may finally see its day in court. On Monday, January 14, 2019, NRDC filed a petition for judicial review of EPA’s recent revival of a 2009 Rule that amended EPA’s...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a November 7th Federal Register Notice described as a “Final Action” that concludes: . . . the reconsideration of an earlier action that the EPA published...more
Earlier this month, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted something of a reprieve to EPA’s New Source Review enforcement initiative. The Court first confirmed what everyone other than EPA and DOJ already knew – that...more
New Source Review (“NSR”) remains a focus of enforcement for EPA. Between last year and now, EPA finalized eight settlements with manufacturers and one with a utility, asserting NSR violations for allegedly not obtaining a...more
On March 13, 2018, EPA issued another new NSR interpretation. This one allows a source to take into account emissions decreases when performing the first step in determining NSR applicability, effectively rewriting the long...more
I’ve noted numerous times that the NSR program is incomprehensible gibberish. These are scientific and objective comments. The most recent example of this is the DTE litigation, in which a one-judge minority somehow ended...more
Last week, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed – for the second time – a District Court decision granting summary judgment to DTE Energy in the United States’ case alleging that DTE Energy had violated EPA’s NSR...more
Given EPA’s recent run of defeats in its NSR enforcement initiative, it’s probably breathing a sigh of relief over last week’s decision in United States v. Ameren Missouri, regarding Ameren’s Rush Island coal-fired power...more
Last year, after a string of defeats for EPA in its NSR enforcement initiative, I suggested that the initiative was in trouble, but that EPA was probably not yet ready to concede defeat. After the latest blow, earlier this...more
Pennsylvania Court Limits NSR Permit Aggregation - In February, the Middle District of Pennsylvania struck down an environmental group’s challenge that Ultra Resources should have aggregated eight compressor stations...more
Following a ruling by the D.C. Circuit, EPA may no longer consider interrelatedness in determining adjacency when making source determination decisions in its Title V or New Source Review permitting decisions under the Clean...more
In a fascinating decision issued today, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down EPA’s Summit Directive. The Summit Directive – sounds ominous – was issued in response to the 2012 decision in Summit Petroleum Corp. v....more
Last Friday, EPA lost another NSR enforcement case. Not only that, but this was a case EPA had previously won. As we noted last August, Chief Judge Philip Simon of the Northern District of Indiana, had previously ruled that...more
The trend of cases holding that the NSR provisions of the Clean Air Act constitute a one-time preconstruction review requirement got stronger earlier this month, as the decision in Sierra Club v. Oklahoma Gas and Electric...more