Clean Air Act
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EPA Retains Existing Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter
On December 7, 2020, EPA completed its five-year review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (“NAAQS”) for Particulate Matter (“PM”), a criteria air pollutant under the Clean Air Act. In a final action set to be published in the Federal Register in the coming days, EPA decided to retain the current NAAQS for PM,… Continue reading
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EPA Finalizes Rollback of Obama-Era Methane Regulations for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry
On August 13, 2020, EPA issued two final rules that will have a significant impact on methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas. The final rules were issued under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) for the oil and natural gas industry and rescind Obama-era rules issued in 2012 and 2016. Continue reading
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Trends in Climate Change Lawsuits: State Common Law Issues
As we have discussed in our previous blog posts, a growing form of climate change litigation in the United States consists of lawsuits filed by states or municipalities against private industry, and more specifically, the fossil-fuel industry. States, cities and other units of local government have filed lawsuits alleging state common law theories, including nuisance,… Continue reading
28 U.S.C. § 1442, 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d), appellate, assert climate change claims, Baltimore, Chevron, City of N.Y. v. BP P.L.C.. 325 F. Supp. 3d 466 (S.D.N.Y. 2018), Clean Air Act, Climate Change, Consumer Protection Act, failure to warn, federal court, Fossil fuel, litigation, local government, Maryland’s Consumer Protection Act, Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. BP PLC, nuisance, Oakland, petition for a writ of certiorari, remand order, Rhode Island, San Mateo, state court, Supreme Court, trespass -
EPA Proposes Rule to Rescind Methane Regulations for the Oil and Gas Industry
On August 28, 2019, EPA issued a proposed rule titled Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources Review (the “Proposed Rule”). The Proposed Rule, if adopted, would rescind certain parts of the New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) related to methane and volatile organic compounds (“VOCs”) in the oil and… Continue reading
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Exploring the E-Suite with Elizabeth Anderson, Ph.D., Fellow ATS, Chief Science Officer and Senior Fellow, Exponent, Inc.; formerly, Carcinogen Assessment Group and Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, U.S. EPA
I led the health sciences assessment work for the first 14 years after U.S. EPA was formed in December 1970. At the time, U.S. EPA was a very small agency. I was the only health scientist in an eight-person Office of Technical Analysis, reporting directly to U.S. EPA’s first Administrator, Bill Ruckelshaus. Continue reading
and Rodenticide Act, Bill Ruckelshaus, Carcinogen Assessment Group, Carcinogen Assessment Group and Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, Chief Science Officer, Clean Air Act, Clement Associates, Distortion of scientific foundations and fact to achieve economic or political gain is deplorable and should be rejected, Dr. Roy Albert, Earth Day, Elizabeth Anderson, Exponent, Federal Insecticide, Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Fungicide, Health risk assessment, honest science, Inc., mechanism of action, National Academy of Sciences, prove safety, public health protection, Radiation Authorities, RCRA, science as applied to public health protection, Sciences International, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, The Red Book, toxic tort litigation, U.S. EPA, U.S. EPA Alumni Association, zero-risk tolerance carcinogen -
EPA Air Chief Supports Draft House Bill Revising CAA ‘Modification’ Definition
Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) has introduced a discussion draft of a bill that proposes to revise the definition of “modification” in the Clean Air Act (CAA) to “clarify when a physical change in, or change in the method of operation of, a stationary source constitutes a modification or construction.” Continue reading
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Litigation in D.C. Circuit Court Put on Hold While EPA Reconsiders 2015 Ozone Air Quality Standards
On Tuesday, April 11th, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted EPA’s motion to continue oral argument and indefinitely delay any decision on challenges to the agency’s 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone in the case of Murray Energy Corp. v. EPA, Case No. 15-1385. Continue reading
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Federal Court Approves $14.7 Billion Volkswagen Settlement
On October 25, 2016, Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California approved a $14.7 billion partial settlement in the Volkswagen “defeat device” MDL litigation. The settlement resolves injunctive relief claims brought by the United States and the State of California, as well as consumer class action claims related… Continue reading
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D.C. Circuit Court Denies Request For Rehearing of Decision Upholding EPA GHG Emission Regulations
On December 20, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit voted to deny rehearing of a June 26, 2012 panel decision of that court, which had upheld a series of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Clean Air Act regulations for control of greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions from mobile and stationary sources. Coalition… Continue reading
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D.C. Court of Appeals Grants Stay of Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
By Allison A. Torrence On December 30, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted several parties’ motions to stay in the federal case challenging the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (“Transport Rule”). The court’s order stops implementation of the Transport Rule two days… Continue reading