Category — New Legislation

On May 18, 2010, the U.S. Senate approved by voice vote an amendment to the financial reform bill (S. 3217, the “Restoring America’s Financial Stability Act”), which would attempt to resolve the ongoing jurisdictional debate between FERC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”). [Read more →]

On May 12, 2010, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) presented their new 987-page American Power Act (“APA”) designed to reduce greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions by 4.75 percent by 2013, 17 percent by 2020, 42 percent by 2030, and 83 percent by 2050.  [Read more →]

After months of anticipation, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released its 563-page proposal for regulating the disposal and management of coal combustion byproducts (“CCBs”) from coal-fired power plants.  Instead of offering a single approach, EPA requested comments on two options for regulating CCBs.  The first would regulate CCBs as a new “special waste” subject to many of the requirements for hazardous waste, while the second would regulate CCBs in a manner similar to typical solid waste, subject to far fewer and less stringent environmental requirements.  EPA would lead the first approach, the various States the second.  Either of EPA’s proposed options represents a seismic shift toward more comprehensive and expensive requirements for CCBs disposal and management.  And for certain utilities, EPA’s regulatory proposal effectively signals the end of ash pond disposal for CCBs. [Read more →]

On December 7, 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) announced the issuance of a final rule amending certain provisions of its loan guarantee program for innovative technologies as authorized by Section 1703 of Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (“Final Rule”). The amendments reverse the DOE’s previous interpretation of two provisions of Section 1702 of Title XVII to require a superior first lien on any property acquired pursuant to a guarantee. The Final Rule was promulgated by the DOE after its review of all comments submitted in response to the DOE’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Opportunity for Comment published on August 7, 2009 (“NOPR”). (Please refer to our summary of the NOPR circulated on August 7, 2009, for more information on the proposed changes.) [Read more →]

On December 11, 2009, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), along with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), introduced a “cap and dividend” climate bill called the “Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal (Clear) Act.”  The Clear Act aims to lower greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions 20% from 2005 levels by 2020, 30% by 2035, and 83% by 2050.  [Read more →]