Category — Environmental News

On November 29 and 30, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) held a Commissioner-led Technical Conference on electric reliability issues.  Of note, the Commission devoted an entire day of the conference to the impact of the EPA’s regulations on electric reliability. [Read more →]

On November 29, 2011, the National Journal Daily reported that the Edison Electric Institute (“EEI”) is seeking a national security exemption in order to provide more time to comply with the upcoming implementation of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule (“MATS”). [Read more →]

On November 15, 2011, the Energy in a Warming World Initiative, a three-year research collaboration between the Union of Concerned Scientists and more than a dozen scientists, issued a peer-reviewed report, “Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants: Electricity’s Thirst for a Precious Resource.”  The report is the first systematic assessment of power-plant water use, its relationship with fresh water systems and the low-quality of data currently available on the topic.  [Read more →]

Night operation of windmills at the North Allegheny Windpower Project has been halted due to the discovery of a dead Indiana bat beneath one of the wind turbines.   The Indiana bat is an endangered specifies protected by the Endangered Species Act. [Read more →]

On October 13 and 14, 2011, the National Mining Association (“NMA”), twenty-five states and Guam, and other public interest groups submitted amicus briefs to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, in support of Utility Air Regulatory Group’s (“UARG”) motion for a one year extension of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) deadline for promulgating a rule establishing Maximum Achievable Control Technology (“MACT”) standards for electric generating units (“EGUs”), which EPA is calling its Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule (“MATS”).  [Read more →]