As 2019 comes to a close, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) remains active both on the regulatory and enforcement fronts, so employers must continue to be vigilant and proactive on their safety and...more
Recently the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an important decision regarding the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the interactions between EPA and the states. On July 15, Fifth Circuit, in a unanimous ruling,...more
On October 1, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a prepublication version of a final rule establishing a new National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. The final rule lowers the primary and secondary...more
EPA has issued a final rule that requires 36 states to revise their State Implementation Plans to eliminate a well-known and often-used Clean Air Act defense for excess emissions. While specific elements of the defense...more
Action Item: In response to pressure from environmental groups, EPA has removed Clean Air Act affirmative defenses previously available to the regulated community for startups, shutdowns, or malfunctions (SSM Rule). The...more
The Final EPA Rule under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) emissions standards for the Startup, Shutdown, and Malfunction (“SSM”) Rule is out. EPA issued the Final Rule on May 22, 2015 and it’s even worse than when proposed. I...more