On September 11, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took final action approving a revision to California’s State Implementation Plan (SIP) to include the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s (SCAQMD)...more
The Environmental Protection Agency’s implementation of the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards “Good Neighbor Plan” (GNP) was met with a fury of legal challenges (see ELM’s previous coverage of EPA’s GNP here)....more
The week of June 23, 2024, in Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified in a 5-4 decision that if a federal agency fails to provide a reasoned response to comments raised during the rulemaking...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and Sierra Club entered into a July 12th Consent Decree (“CD”) addressing agency review of 32 states’ Clean Air Act State Implementation Plans (“SIP”) related to...more
The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) submitted on July 1st to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) a document titled: Arkansas Ambient Air...more
The Clean Air Act (“CAA”) envisions states and the federal government working together to improve air quality. Under the CAA, states must develop State Implementation Plans (“SIPs”) to implement National Ambient Air Quality...more
Co-Author Jordan Wimpy The United States Supreme Court issued on June 27th a stay on the Ozone Federal Implementation Plan (i.e, Good Neighbor Rule) while the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals hears and decides...more
On June 27, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Ohio, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., Nos. 23A349, 23A350, 23A351 and 23A384. The Court stayed the enforcement of EPA’s rule against certain States pending...more
The National Association of Clean Air Agencies (“NACAA”) submitted April 10th comments to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) addressing a rule proposed on January 9th titled: Clarifying the Scope...more
While environmental justice (EJ) concerns continued to drive policymaking in early 2024, EJ efforts increasingly faced headwinds coming from various and sometimes unexpected directions. Below, we will summarize recent...more
The United States House of Representatives passed by partisan vote legislation denominated H.R. 7650 that would amend the Clean Air Act titled: “Air Quality Standards Implementation Act of 2024” (“Act”). The Act...more
On March 6, 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register its long-awaited reconsideration of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM). In...more
I. Background. On February 7, 2024, EPA issued a final rule lowering the annual health-based air quality standard for fine particulates (pm 2.5) to 9 ug/m3 from 12 ug/m3. The Rule will impact industries and many...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced today a final rule which will tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (“NAAQS”) for fine particulate matter. EPA previously: - Stated on June 10,...more
For anyone involved in the first round of the Clean Air Act regional haze program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) action on the first business day of 2024 came as no surprise: EPA proposed to disapprove the...more
The Environmental Protection Agency, under the Clean Air Act, requires states to work with the EPA to address the interstate transport of air pollution. Under the “Good Neighbor Plan,” the EPA requires each state to implement...more
The United States Chamber of Commerce (“Chamber”) issued a November 2023 report titled: EPA’s Proposed Air Quality Standards Will Cause Permitting Gridlock Across Our Economy (“Report”)...more
Seventy trade groups sent an October 31st letter to Mr. Jeffrey Zients who serves as Chief of Staff in the White House addressing the Clean Air Act National Ambient Air Quality Standard (“NAAQS”) for fine particulate matter...more
Regulators are pursuing steep fines in response to widespread alleged noncompliance with an emissions rule still subject to potential reversal by the courts. On September 20, 2023, the South Coast Air Quality Management...more
Several environmental organizations filed a document before the United States Environmental Protection Agency styled: Petition to Object to the Title V Operating Permit for the Delaware City Refinery (“Petition”)...more
In a decision with implications for air permitting across the West, a divided three-judge panel of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded EPA’s approval of Colorado’s state implementation plan (SIP) based...more
The Tenth Circuit United States Court of Appeals (“Court”) addressed in a September 18th Opinion a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (“Center”) alleging that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published in the August 22nd Federal Register Notice a proposed rule that would approve portions of the revisions to the Arkansas State Implementation Plan (“SIP”)....more
Earlier this week, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated EPA’s disapproval of Montana’s regional haze plan for the PacifiCorp’s Wyodak power plant. The basis for the disapproval was an issue near and dear to my heart. ...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 27, 2023, published its Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, which is intended to update the public about the agency's plan to review, propose and issue regulations over the...more