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Environmental groups and, collectively, 16 state attorneys general (AGs) have filed two separate lawsuits against the EPA for its decision to suspend by 1 year enforcement of the Agency’s emissions requirements for glider vehicles regulated under the EPA’s Phase 2 rule for medium- and heavy-duty engines and vehicles (October 25, 2016, Federal Register (FR)). The […]
On July 9, 2018, his first day as Acting EPA Administrator, Andrew Wheeler denied a petition to reconsider the Agency’s residual risk and technology review (RTR) of its 2001 National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Chemical Recovery Combustion Sources at Kraft, Soda, Sulfite, and Stand-Alone Semi-Chemical Pulp Mills (October 11, 2107, Federal […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently finalized broad changes to its refrigerant management regulations under 40 CFR 82. Those owning, operating, maintaining, servicing, repairing, or disposing of air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment will all be impacted by these revisions. The most significant change extends the regulations for ozone-depleting refrigerants to non-ozone- depleting substitutes through an […]
Following the $14.7 billion penalty leveled against Volkswagen®, EPA’s $12 million settlement with Harley-Davidson, Inc., over the company’s alleged sale of illegal defeat devices for use on its motorcycles, is a significant enforcement action that highlights the government’s militant stance against vehicle manufacturers it asserts are violating the Clean Air Act (CAA).
In one of the more impressive displays of environmental law we have seen, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled on approximately 30 consolidated challenges—about half filed by industry and half by environmental groups—to three EPA rules issued to control emissions of air toxics from combustion units. Industry struck […]
Obtaining an air permit is not often a quick or simple process, but under the correct circumstances the process can be streamlined by using a general permit. Regulatory agencies often develop general permits for common source categories with similar operations, similar emissions, and similar regulatory requirements.
A Minnesota law that prohibits utilities from meeting state electricity demand with power from new plants that contribute to statewide carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions was found in violation of the Constitution’s dormant Commerce Clause because the law places an undue burden on interstate commerce.