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The Sierra Club Oct. 19 filed a suit alleging that EPA has failed to conduct required environmental impact and air quality reviews for its Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS), litigation that will likely mark the first of many tests for Administrator Scott Pruitt's new policy limiting the use of settlements in such cases.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt says the agency does not plan to take comment on the Obama administration's greenhouse gas endangerment finding as part of an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) for how to replace the Clean Power Plan (CPP), a move likely to disappoint conservatives who have sought an assault on the finding to forestall any future GHG rules.
In what appears to be one of the Trump EPA's first litigation rehearing requests, the agency is asking a federal appeals court to clarify its vacatur of one of the four criteria used in an Obama-era solid waste rule to determine if recycling of hazardous materials is legitimate, asking the court to allow EPA to use a Bush-era rule's version of the factor.
The Trump EPA has removed references to “climate change” from an agency webpage that previously offered resources to state and local governments regarding climate adaptation, renewable energy and energy efficiency, with the new site geared only to “energy resources.”
BALTIMORE -- A top Justice Department (DOJ) official says the department could soon issue long-awaited guidance for implementing Attorney General Jeff Sessions' directive barring third-party payments in settlements, a ban that has drawn concern from industry groups that it could undercut the use of popular EPA supplemental environmental projects (SEPs).
A biofuels industry source says EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's written pledge against cutting biofuels production targets below those in the agency's proposed 2018 renewable fuel standard (RFS) fails to address the sector's fears about cuts to the RFS, raising doubts about the prospect that a Trump nominee to EPA, whose confirmation has stalled over the issue, will advance.
Related Story: Refiners Warn 'Hostage Taking' Over RFS Could Undermine Trump Agenda
BALTIMORE -- EPA has hired dedicated staff for Administrator Scott Pruitt's security detail following charges that it was improper for the agency to use criminal enforcement investigators for that duty, Michael Fisher, the director of EPA's legal counsel division, told a legal conference here on Oct. 19.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's directive to end so-called “sue-and-settle” agreements is designed to provide certainty that the agency will seek to limit such deals -- but the effort might create more uncertainty because many say it will result in more litigation.
Joel Beauvais, who served as EPA's de facto water chief at the end of the Obama administration, is suggesting in a new legal analysis that while Supreme Court justices appeared split on the issue of whether district or appellate courts should hear disputes over the Obama-era Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule, their questioning overall seemed to favor industry and states that argue for hearing the suits first in district court.
As they weigh options for reorganizing the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), EPA toxics office leaders are grappling with where to house the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program, which provides critical data on facilities' annual pollution releases, given the new responsibilities the office must shoulder under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
Top Trump administration officials, including EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, are taking a hard line on the agency's ability to settle a range of suits it faces, efforts that are winning praise from their conservative supporters but raising concerns from many in industry who fear increased litigation and greater uncertainty.
Exclusive news, hot documents, and timely updates on legislation and litigation over EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers' joint Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule.
