The Department of Environmental Quality proposed amendments to regulations governing the Montana Underground Storage Tank Installer and Inspector Licensing and Permitting Act. The amendments would, among other things, repeal unnecessary definitions, add new license categories for compliance testers and junior installers, extend the licensing period from one year to three years, and update fee structures. A hearing will be held June 13, 2024. Comments are due June 21, 2024.
The Department of Health and Environment seeks comment on the 2025 Intended Use Plans for the Kansas Public Water Supply Loan Fund and the Kansas Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund. The plans would make additions to the Project Priority List of each program, include estimates and uses of anticipated capitalization grants from EPA, and establish criteria for loan forgiveness and procedures for ranking projects. A hearing will be held June 25, 2024. Comments are due the same date.
The Energy and Carbon Management Commission proposed amendments to regulations governing deep geothermal operations. The amendments would establish a permitting structure for the review and authorization of deep geothermal wells and surface locations. A hearing will be held July 29, 2024. See https://www.sos.state.co.us/CCR/Upload/NoticeOfRulemaking/AddInfoAttach2024-00231.rtf.
SIP Approval: Kentucky (revisions to geographical boundary description and attainment status designation for the Henderson-Webster 2010 primary sulfur dioxide nonattainment area).
SIP Proposal: Georgia (regional haze).
SIP Proposal: District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (revisions to motor vehicle emissions budgets and onroad and nonroad mobile emissions for volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides for years 2025 and 2030).
SIP Proposal: Nebraska (miscellaneous changes).
The Internal Revenue Service proposed regulations relating to the clean electricity production credit and the clean electricity investment credit established by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to provide rules for determining greenhouse gas emissions rates resulting from the production of electricity; petitioning for provisional emissions rates; and determining eligibility for these credits in various circumstances.
United States v. PSF, Inc., No. 3:24-cv-00112 (D. Alaska May 24, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, settling CWA defendants that allegedly violated the conditions and limitations of their NPDES permits at their facilities in Valdez and King Cove, Alaska, must perform injunctive relief and pay $750,000 in civil penalties.
United States v. TPC Group LLC, No. 24-00187 (E.D. Tex. May 21, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CAA defendant must pay $12.1 million in civil penalties and spend approximately $80 million to improve its risk management program and improve safety at its petrochemical manufacturing facilities in Port Neches and Houston, Texas, in connection with a November 2019 explosion at the Neches facility and failure to take corrective action at the Houston facility.