The Third Circuit denied an environmental group's petitions to review EPA's approval of certain air pollution control technology use at industrial facilities in Pennsylvania. The group argued EPA violated the CAA by focusing exclusively on emissions from those facilities instead of examining their i...
The Third Circuit vacated EPA's 2022 decision to reverse its prior determination and to require an oil refinery in the Virgin Islands to obtain a PSD permit before it can resume operations. The refinery owner petitioned for review, arguing EPA's application of its reactivation policy—under which a...
The D.C. Circuit denied a group of fuel refineries' petitions to review EPA's rule extending compliance reporting deadlines under the Renewable Fuel Standard program. The group argued the rule violated the CAA by providing obligated parties less than 13 months' compliance lead time—from EPA's anno...
The Sixth Circuit reversed a district court ruling in a lawsuit concerning 12 oil refinery sites that operated during World War II. The current owner of the refineries sought contribution from the U.S. government for environmental contamination discovered at the sites, arguing the government's produ...
The D.C. Circuit denied petitions to review EPA's promulgation of a rule that regulates the emission of greenhouse gases from aircraft engines under CAA §231 by aligning domestic standards with those recently promulgated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Twelve states, the Di...
The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part petitions to review EPA's revisions to designations promulgated in 2018 for northern Weld County, Colorado, and El Paso, Texas, as areas that had attained 2015 ozone pollution standards. The revised designations folded Weld County into the greater ...
The name of the climate game right now is fast, sustained progress. The world needs this both politically and technologically to effectively fight climate change. Progress was achieved both politically and technologically with the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), which allocated $369 billion to “energy security and climate change,” amounting to the United States’ largest investment in climate action to date.
The D.C. Circuit, in a split ruling, vacated certain provisions of EPA's rule phasing out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Two companies and three trade groups argued EPA exceeded its authority in issuing the rule and that the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, which directed the ...
Carbon offsets allow polluters to pay someone else to reduce, avoid, or remove emissions to counterbalance their own emissions. For some, carbon accounting concerns render offsets a necessary evil to be tightly regulated on the path toward decarbonization. For others, moral and political concerns render offsets a dangerous mistake to be thrown out of the climate law toolbox.
In an unpublished order, the Fifth Circuit, 2-1, stayed EPA's disapproval of SIPs submitted by Texas and Louisiana following the Agency's 2015 revision to the ozone NAAQS. The states moved for a stay pending review of EPA's disapproval. The court found a stay was appropriate because the states made ...