In a much-anticipated move, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing repeal of the Clean Power Plan (CPP). The draft proposed rule outlines EPA’s revised interpretation of its authority under Clean Air Act section 111(d) to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants only within the fenceline. EPA concludes in the proposed rule that the … Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a stunner with its decision this morning in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency. The Supreme Court has curtailed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of stationary source greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under two Clean Air Act permitting programs – New Source Review Prevention of Significant Deterioration … Continue Reading
Yesterday EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy unveiled the highly anticipated carbon dioxide rules for existing power plants. Dubbed the “Clean Power Plan,” the rules taken together likely will have a significant impact on industrial and other consumers of electricity as well as developers of natural gas-fired and renewable generation (e.g., solar, biomass and wind). Stoel Rives attorneys … Continue Reading
My colleague, Daniel Lee, followed oral argument yesterday in the U.S. Supreme Court’s consideration of federal greenhouse gas (GHG) regulation in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA, and provides this analysis: During oral argument for Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA this Monday, the Supreme Court conflicted over a number of issues including the application of Chevron deference, … Continue Reading
The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced it has denied requests from the Governors of Arkansas and North Carolina to waive Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume requirements, based on the effects of the drought on feedstocks used to produce renewable fuel in 2012-2013. The petitions, filed in August, triggered a review process to determine … Continue Reading
In a decision released this morning, the DC Circuit rejected a challenge to the introduction of E15, a gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol, under an EPA waiver grant. Currently, the national gasoline supply consists largely of E10, a 10 percent ethanol/gasoline blend. With fuel manufacturers confronting mandatory annual increases of renewable fuels under the … Continue Reading
On April 14, 2011, the EPA announced the settlement of a twelve year dispute with Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) over Clean Air Act violations. In the settlement, TVA agrees to permanently retire 2,700 MW of coal power from Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee and invest an estimated $3 to $5 billion on new and upgraded state-of-the-art pollution … Continue Reading
In case there was any doubt after the recent watershed election, the times they are a-changin’. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Environmental Appeals Board’s (“EAB”) recent ruling, In Re Deseret Power Electric Cooperative, could pave the way for EPA-imposed CO2 emissions limits on power plants and other significant sources of CO2 emissions. In response to a … Continue Reading
