Category — EPA News

On May 16, 2013, the U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Ernest Moniz as the next Secretary for the Department of Energy (“DOE”).  With a unanimous vote of 97-0, Dr. Moniz succeeds Secretary Steven Chu.  Dr. Moniz was previously the Under Secretary for DOE from 1997 until 2001, and served as a professor of Physics and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology prior to his nomination (see March 11, 2013 edition of the WER). [Read more →]

On March 29, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued updates to its emissions limits for new power plants under the mercury and air toxic standards (“MATS”).  The less stringent limits are a result of new information and analysis the EPA received during the reconsideration period of MATS.  The EPA stated that the revisions should not alter the control technologies that owners and operators must install to comply with MATS. [Read more →]

On March 29, 2013, several environmental advocacy groups (“Petitioners”) filed a Writ of Certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States (“Supreme Court”), requesting review of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s (“D.C. Circuit”) vacatur of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (“CSAPR”).  Petitioners sought review on grounds that the D.C. Circuit exceeded its statutory authority in its decision, and its decision was inconsistent with court precedent. [Read more →]

On Friday, January 4, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) must rework how it implements standards for fine particulates emitted by power plants, boilers and motor vehicles.  In making its determination, the court rejected the EPA’s argument that it is required under the Clean Air Act to use a less stringent regime of implementation for standards related to fine particulates than it does for standards related to less dangerous, coarser particles.  As a result, implementation of the two fine particulate matter regulations will likely become more rigorous, and more stringent controls will apply to power plants located in communities which are not achieving the relevant clean air standards. [Read more →]

On December 21, 2012, EPA finally completed its reconsideration of four regulations designed to address hazardous air pollutant (“HAP”) emissions from industrial boilers and waste incinerators.  The rules are long overdue, considering that a court ordered EPA to finalize the rules in February 2011 and EPA itself promised to release the rule in April 2012. [Read more →]

On December 14, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced that it is strengthening the annual standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from 15 ug/m3 to 12 ug/m3.  With the more stringent standard, EPA expects to designate as many as 66 counties to be in violation, 19 of which will be new to the list of counties that do not meet federal PM standards.  The official “nonattainment” designations will not be effective until early 2015; states will have a year to submit recommended designations, and EPA will have another year to act on those recommendations.  Because PM2.5 levels are expected to continue declining over the next few years in most areas, the final tally of nonattainment counties could be lower. [Read more →]

On Demember 14, 2012, The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed an extraordinary appeal of proposed EPA New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) for greenhouse gas emissions from new coal-fueled electric generating units.  The appeal of the proposed standards was taken by a group of companies seeking to develop new coal-fueled generation and by the Utility Air Regulatory Group. [Read more →]

Late in the day on Friday, November 16, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a proposal to reconsider maximum achievable control technology standards for hazardous air pollutant emissions from new electric generating units (referred to as “UMACT”). EPA’s previously-issued standards for new units, promulgated as a part of EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule, had been criticized by a coalition of new unit developers as unattainable. One of the new unit developers asked EPA to reconsider the standards, as did the trade association of pollution control equipment vendors, which also told EPA that its members could not issue guarantees that the standards could be met. [Read more →]

On October 12, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania found that the Clean Air Act displaced all state common law claims relating to dust emissions from a coal-fired power plant. [Read more →]

On October 12, 2012, the EPA responded to petitions for rehearing en banc filed by Industry Petitioners in the Coalition for Responsible Regulation v. EPA case before the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  The petitions seek review by all eight D.C. Circuit judges of the three-judge panel decision issued last July that upheld EPA’s greenhouse gas (“GHG”) endangerment finding, its first-time ever regulations of GHG emissions from automobiles, and its “Tailoring Rule” and “Timing Rule” under which EPA commenced GHG permitting requirements as of January 2, 2011 and set numerical permitting thresholds. [Read more →]