West Virginia vs. EPA Part II: U.S. Supreme Court Applies the Major Questions Doctrine to limit EPA Regulatory Authority
West Virginia vs. EPA: An Environmental Regulations Case with Broad Implications for Agency Power
Jones Day Talks: Developments in Germany's Wind Power Regulations
For those seasoned rockers, CCR means Creedence Clearwater Revival, but for environmental lawyers, CCR means Coal Combustion Residuals (“CCR”) which is a slurry by-product from the generation of electricity from coal fired...more
On April 25, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a set of rules aimed at cutting air, water, and land pollution from fossil fuel-fired plants. The rules would require existing coal-fired and new gas-fired...more
Introduction - The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently finalized four separate rules (Power Plant Rules) that set new standards for power plant emissions in the United States. Collectively, these...more
EPA’s action finalizes aggressive emission reduction targets for certain subcategories of fossil fuel-fired power plants, based on implementation of carbon capture and sequestration. On April 25, 2024, the US...more
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a suite of final rules aimed at reducing contamination, emissions, and discharges from coal- and gas-fired power plants on April 25. This suite of rules includes two...more
On 11 May 2023, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new standards for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new and existing power plants (the Proposed Rule). EPA projects that the rule, if finalized, would...more
EPA’s long-awaited proposal would set aggressive emission reduction targets with many different approaches and timelines to achieve them. On May 11, 2023, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its...more
Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency released its long-awaited proposal for New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating...more
The Cost of "Electrification" “Electrification” has become a ubiquitous term these days, although depending on who you ask, it might have different meanings. However defined, a critical component of electrification as a...more
The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has announced a new proposed rule that would strengthen the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants ("NESHAP") for Coal- and Oil- Fired Electric Utility Steam...more
A recent report released last week by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) shows that hundreds of coal plant sites could host new nuclear reactors. Siting new nuclear at retiring coal sites, referred to as the...more
On the last day of its 2022 term, the Supreme Court curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s power plants. The court held that the “generation shifting”...more
West Virginia v. EPA, No. 20-1530; North American Coal Corp. v. EPA, No. 20-1531; Westmoreland Mining Holdings v. EPA, No. 20-1778; North Dakota v. EPA, No. 20-1780: In four consolidated cases, the Court agreed to review the...more
Connecticut Passes Legislation Targeting 1 GW Energy Storage by 2030 - Connecticut has enacted new energy storage legislation: S.B. 952, “An Act Concerning Energy Storage” (Act). The Act establishes a target of 1 GW energy...more
The local economies of many communities in the southwest are tied to the operations of large coal-fired power plants. As those plants start closing, the communities can face significant disruption in their local economies...more
Just before the inauguration of President Biden, the Trump administration surprised many by failing to revise the stringent CO2 standard for new coal-fired power plants. That standard, adopted by the Obama administration, is...more
On July 21, 2020, Ohio’s energy landscape experienced a seismic event when the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District filed a criminal complaint alleging that the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, Larry...more
Cancelled Teck Oil Sands Project Underscores Global Climate-Energy Policy Tension - "The Frontier project became the latest casualty in oil-producing countries with robust environmental movements agitating to cut...more
Focus - BLM announces plans to roll back desert protections in bid to boost geothermal energy - Los Angeles Times – January 23 - The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) this Thursday announced plans to transform 22,000...more
On June 19, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the final “Affordable Clean Energy” (“ACE”) rule to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (“CPP”), which was suspended by the U.S. Supreme Court after...more
Here’s my take on the Affordable Clean Energy Plan. Who cares? On the merits, it does almost nothing. It requires only that states impose heat rate improvement requirements on coal-fired power plants. It’s not going to...more
After receiving an analysis showing that shutting the Jim Bridger and Naughton coal-fired electric generating plants in Wyoming would save ratepayers money, PacificCorp, the owner of the plants, announced that it would shut...more
On Monday, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality issued determinations with respect to six Duke Energy coal plants, requiring that Duke close coal combustion residual surface impoundments at the plants by...more
United States Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) sent a December 13th letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs: . . . expressing grave concerns regarding the...more
In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the controversial “Clean Power Plan,” which was immediately the subject of a legal challenge and was subsequently stayed by the United States Supreme Court....more