The Trump Administration announced a long-awaited proposal to roll back the Obama-era Clean Power Plan late last month. (Chicago Tribune). The action had been promised by the President and his appointees at EPA, who pursued it despite apparent ironies.
The proposed change was supported by a lengthy analysis prepared by EPA. (Regulatory Impact Analysis). Interestingly, the analysis concedes that the rollback will result in an increase in respiratory illnesses and premature deaths associated with easing the air pollution limits the Clean Power Plan would impose. (N.Y. Times
December 18, 2014, marked the release of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) annual environmental enforcement and compliance results. See News Release, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Announces 2014 Annual Environmental Enforcement Results (Dec. 18, 2014). According to the EPA, its enforcement actions in 2014 required businesses across the country to invest more than $9.7 billion in regulatory compliance and equipment. Additionally, EPA collected a total of $163 million in combined federal administrative, civil judicial penalties, and criminal ...
The recent decision in Sierra Club v. EPA, 705 F.3d 458 (D.C. Cir. 2013) vacated all of EPA's rules on Significant Monitoring Concentrations ("SMCs"), as well as some (the Prevention of Significant Deterioration ("PSD") portion) of the Significant Impact Levels ("SILs") for Particulate Matter in air emissions measuring 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller ("PM2.5"). As a result permit applicants have fewer screening tools available when seeking exemption from analysis and monitoring requirements under the Clean Air Act ("Act").
A. Background for the Act, NAAQS ...
It's almost never easy to fathom federal environmental regulations and this held true when a set of regulations was recently issued by the U.S. EPA. On December 20, 2012, the Agency issued a series of rules, primarily under the Clean Air Act, to address emissions from sources generally classified as boilers or incinerators. Part of the regulatory package also included revisions to standards and procedures enacted under authority of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA") that will determine whether non-hazardous secondary materials constitute waste when burned in ...
On August 13, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in State of Texas v. EPA, No. 10-60614 (5th Cir. Aug. 13, 2012), affirming Texas's State Implementation Plan (SIP) allowing for "flexible permits." Under Texas's Flexible Permit Program, a facility may make modifications without agency review so long as aggregate emissions do not exceed an emissions cap for the facility. The case could have broader implications across the country, if other courts adopt the Fifth Circuit's reasoning to allow increased flexibility in state air permitting programs. In this case ...