When President Gerald Ford signed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) into law in 1976, he declared it “one of the most important pieces of environmental legislation . . . enacted by the Congress,” one that would “close a gap in our current array of laws to protect the health of our people and the environment.” History has not been kind to President Ford’s prediction.
On January 22, 2014, the European Commission published its Recommendation on Shale Gas calling on the Member States of the European Union (EU) to apply a set of common principles for the performance of exploration and production of hydrocarbons by means of high-volume hydraulic fracturing. These principles are considered as minimum and “complementary” to existing EU environmental and safety legislation.
The much-discussed and oft-criticized Indian interlinking of rivers project, initiated on its own motion by the Supreme Court of India (SC), will involve connecting 37 rivers in India through 30 links and 36 dams. The SC seems to have been motivated by concerns about the disparate regional availability of water in India: while parts of India are host to perennial rivers that frequently flood, other parts have access to surface freshwater resources only during the monsoon and are frequently afflicted by droughts.
Valves, pumps, connectors, and other component parts are the crucial joints in an industrial plant’s skeletal system. Without them, movement—or in the case of a refinery or chemical manufacturing facility, processing—would be impossible. And, just as with skeletal joints, without proper care and maintenance, normal wear and tear can cause component parts to become arthritic and leak, releasing contained gas and liquids into the environment.
Modern property frameworks are increasingly deployed to support climate change mitigation strategies. The propertization of geological storage formations, utilized for the purpose of carbon capture and storage (CCS), provides a compelling example of this. Pursuant to regulatory changes to the propertization of CCS in the Australian states of Victoria and Queensland, ownership lies with the State, while in the United States, in Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming, ownership remains with the private owner.
EPA emissions inventory and cancer risk data for criteria pollutants and air toxics show clearly that vehicles and small stationary sources emit a majority of the air pollution nationally and account for most of the cancer risks from air toxics. Industrial sources, by contrast, rarely account for more than 10% of cumulative cancer risks from all outdoor sources of air toxics. The observed pattern of emissions is replicated at spatial scales ranging from census tracts to the nation as a whole.
A focal point in conflict over U.S. national forest management is the writing of regulations and forest plans pursuant to the National Forest Management Act. One of the most contested questions in forest planning is what role standards play and ought to play in the process. Standards are legally enforceable, binding, and mandatory requirements and constraints that are found in planning regulations or individual unit-level national forest plans. Case law and public comments reveal key issues, questions, and concerns related to the use of standards in forest planning and law.
On August 13, 2013, the state of New York set an important legal precedent that could help to retard climate change and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States. On that day, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (the Authority) issued $23.4 million in bonds to fund residential energy-efficiency projects. The bonds were rated AAA/Aaa, thanks to a financial guaranty from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC).
The Clean Air Act (CAA) was founded on the principle that a maximum safe national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) concentration existed for each pollutant. Once those concentrations were defined, emission limitations for individual plants could be determined that ensured those concentrations would not be exceeded in ambient air. The CAA gives the states the primary authority to define the emission limitations necessary to meet the NAAQS in their airsheds. The collection of emission limits forms the state implementation plan (SIP) that, when approved by the U.S.
Whether U.S. EPA and states can regulate emissions outside the facility fence line is a critical factor in shaping the regulatory response to climate change using Clean Air Act §111. There has been much rhetoric about the ability of states and EPA to create regulatory tools such as emissions trading of greenhouse gases, but policy experts and professionals need a more definitive answer. To address this topic, ELI held the second seminar of its Professional Practice Series.