On Tuesday, in Ohio v. EPA, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied several challenges to EPA’s decision to restore California’s authority under § 209(b) of the Clean Air Act to regulate emissions from motor vehicles. It’s definitely a
Massachusetts has become the first state to require analysis of cumulative impacts for certain air quality permits in or near communities with environmental justice (EJ) populations. On March 29, 2024, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) released highly anticipated
This week, Inside EPA (subscription required) ran a story indicating that EPA is trying to figure out how to juggle some increasingly expensive cleanups with shortfalls in Superfund tax revenue. The story notes that EPA is adding expensive new sites
In 2022, Pennsylvania became the 12th member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (“RGGI”). Pennsylvania joined RGGI pursuant to a 2019 executive order and a subsequent rulemaking promulgated by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) and Environmental Quality Board
Earlier this month, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals vacated most of EPA’s startup, shutdown, and malfunction SIP Call. The Court’s rationale boils down to EPA’s failure to make a predicate finding that the SIP call was “necessary or
Last week, in Bristol Asphalt v. Rochester Bituminous Products, the SJC jettisoned two prior decisions and revised its directions to lower courts regarding how to handle “special motions to dismiss” under Massachusetts’ so-called “Anti-SLAPP” statute. If you don’t know
It is now almost 18 months since Congress enacted the Inflation Reduction Act. One of the IRA’s provisions was an adder to the ITC for renewable energy projects located in an “energy community”. One way to be in an energy
Yesterday, EPA finalized a rule lowering the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM2.5 to 9.00 ug/m3. This is a significant reduction from the current 12.00 ug/m3 standard and a victory for environmentalists, even though they had advocated
In my discussion yesterday of the shortcomings of the Climate Superfund Act, I actually ignored arguably its biggest flaw.
While the Act certainly looks much like a tax, I failed to point out that the Act omits what is typically
As I’ve noted many times, criticizing CERCLA is like shooting fish in a barrel. Apparently, however, my criticism is not universally shared. According to WBUR, some legislators around the country are so pleased with how well CERCLA works
