Zeldin, Surprise Pick For EPA, Expected To Drive Trump Deregulatory Agenda

President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) to lead EPA next year is prompting surprise by a range of sources both inside and outside the agency, even as the observers expect he is nevertheless well positioned to advance the incoming administration’s deregulatory agenda. Zeldin is “a little lacking in formal qualifications” for the EPA administrator job, says Mike McKenna, a longtime GOP energy lobbyist and former Trump administration staffer, but “he is a smart guy, he will...

Justices Urged To Review CWA Citizen Suit’s Scope To Enforce State Limits

Industry groups and GOP states are urging the Supreme Court to review an appellate ruling that they say expands the scope of Clean Water Act (CWA) citizen suits allowing plaintiffs to enforce state permit provisions that are more stringent than federal rules, warning that the decision creates a circuit split and distorts the water law’s statutory language. If the high court agrees to hear the case, Port of Tacoma, et al., v. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance , it will be the...

Final Rule

Fact Sheet


EPA Finalizes Rule For IRA’s Methane Fee Considered Likely Trump Target

EPA is finalizing its rule implementing the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) methane emissions fee, cementing the policy for now even as the rule and its underlying statutory basis are considered highly vulnerable to rollback by the incoming Trump administration and a likely GOP Congress. Even so, the Biden administration’s Nov. 12 release of the rule coincides with a U.S.-China summit on reducing methane and other potent greenhouse gases, which officials are hosting as part of broader international climate talks in...

EPA Finalizes Rule For IRA’s Methane Fee Considered Likely Trump Target

EPA is finalizing its rule implementing the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) methane emissions fee, cementing the policy for now even as the rule and its underlying statutory basis are considered highly vulnerable to rollback by the incoming Trump administration and a likely GOP Congress. Even so, the Biden administration’s Nov. 12 release of the rule coincides with a U.S.-China summit on reducing methane and other potent greenhouse gases, which officials are hosting as part of broader international climate talks in...

Power Co-Op Appeals To High Court In Bid To Stay EPA’s Legacy Ash Rule

A Kentucky power co-op is asking the Supreme Court to stay implementation of EPA’s final rule governing legacy coal combustion residual (CCR) surface impoundments and CCR management units (CCRMU), an effort aimed at reversing an appellate court decision rejecting the company’s initial request. East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) filed a Nov. 5 application for a stay of EPA’s rule to the Supreme Court, warning that the rule exceeds EPA’s statutory authority, is outside the agency’s constitutional authority, and is arbitrary...

After Criticism, EPA Revises Decree Requiring First-Time Ionic TMDL

EPA has revised a proposed consent decree that requires development of first-time total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for ionic toxicity pollution from coal mining in West Virginia streams, overhauling the earlier version to give the state’s regulators a new lead role after facing criticism from industry groups and a key Democratic senator. Judge Robert Chambers of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Nov. 6 entered the revised consent decree in the suit Sierra Club, et...

Environmentalists Urge EPA To Rewrite ‘Unlawful’ DINP Risk Evaluation

Environmentalists are accusing EPA of using an “arbitrary and unlawful approach” to craft its draft TSCA risk evaluation of the phthalate DINP, arguing that among other flaws the agency dismissed health risks to workers and consumers that exceed its usual benchmarks. “While EPA correctly proposes to determine that DINP as a whole chemical poses unreasonable risk to human health, EPA’s draft risk evaluation significantly understates and discounts the risks to workers, consumers, the general population, and specific groups who face...

Suit over Trump-era LCR revisions will remain stayed into 2025

The D.C. Circuit is continuing its stay on challenges to the Trump EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) to Jan. 15, appearing to ensure the case will still be pending if the incoming administration revives its rule by rolling back the Biden EPA’s tougher Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI). In a Nov. 8 order , the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed to continue holding Newburgh Clean Water Project, et al., v. EPA,...

DOD Crafting PFAS Guidance To Prevent MILCON Cost, Schedule Issues

The Defense Department (DOD) is developing guidance on addressing PFAS-impacted soil and water during the military construction (MILCON) project development and execution process following an audit that found the lack of such guidance contributed to cost increases and schedule delays for Navy and Marine Corps projects. In a Nov. 5 report , the DOD Office of Inspector General (OIG) found in a review of five Navy and Marine Corps MILCON projects that Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) officials faced...

At U.N. Meeting, Podesta Warns Of Climate ‘U Turn’ Under Next Trump Term

White House international climate chief John Podesta is expressing “bitter” disappointment at President-elect Donald Trump’s election win while also pledging that states, cities and others will continue U.S. climate efforts in response to Trump’s expected reversal on the issue. “For those of us dedicated to climate action, last week’s outcome in the United States is obviously bitterly disappointing,” Podesta said during a Nov. 11 press conference at the opening day of the two-week United Nations climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan...

Amid Policy Upheaval, D.C. Circuit Declines To Stay FERC’s LNG Approval

A D.C. Circuit panel is rejecting calls from environmentalists and others to pause the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of what is expected to be the country’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal, while setting a briefing schedule for the litigation that extends to April. The case comes amid expectations that the incoming Trump administration will seek to speed approvals of future LNG exports, while Biden officials at the Energy Department (DOE) are reportedly scrambling to complete a...

Attorneys Predict ‘Crippling’ Changes To TSCA Program Under Trump

Attorneys for both the chemical sector and environmentalists say the incoming Trump administration could shift key TSCA risk evaluation and management functions to other EPA offices or even separate agencies such as OSHA, a move one says would deal a “crippling blow” to the toxics program. The next administration is likely to revive a Trump-era policy of limiting Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) chemical evaluations to exposure pathways not already covered by other environmental laws. But Bob Sussman, an attorney...

Trump Selects Former Rep. Lee Zeldin To Lead EPA In His Second Term

President-elect Donald Trump has selected former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) to be EPA administrator in his second term. “It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator,” Zeldin said in a social media post . “We will restore U.S. energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the U.S. the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.” Trump’s selection of Zeldin, who represented...

Regan Seeks To Boost EPA Staff Morale, Continue Late-Hour Efforts

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office on a promise of rolling back Biden administration rules, EPA Administrator Michael Regan is offering assurances to agency employees that their work over the past four years will have lasting results, while urging staff to also “have faith” in the presidential transition process. Regan’s message, in a Nov. 6 email to all agency staff, is designed to bolster morale, amid fears that Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory could impact federal workers at...

Second Court Holds Air Act Allows Criminal Vehicle Tampering Charges

A second federal district court is backing EPA’s ability to bring criminal charges under the Clean Air Act (CAA) in a case where the government alleges a defendant engaged in unlawful vehicle tampering, affirming a recent precedent on an issue that courts had not previously addressed on the merits as defendants had taken plea deals. But while Senior Judge John Gibney of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is allowing prosecutors in United States v. Jonathan...

CARB Vows To Monitor, Mitigate Fuel Price Hikes Due To LCFS Overhaul

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is committing to closely monitoring and, if necessary, mitigating gasoline and diesel price hikes as part of its approval of a sweeping overhaul to the state’s low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS), in response to a raging debate about the program’s potential to spur higher gasoline and diesel prices. “I think we do need to be extremely mindful of the effects of our program on the residents of California,” CARB Chairwoman Liane Randolph said at a...

EPA Plans To Exclude Another PFAS Refrigerant From Air Regulation

EPA is proposing to exclude another refrigerant in the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) group of chemicals from the Clean Air Act’s list of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) subject to regulation, claiming the low-global warming potential substance does not pose health risks, in line with the air program’s narrow definition of PFAS. In a Federal Register notice scheduled for publication Nov. 12, EPA proposes to exclude (Z)-1-chloro-2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene, also known as HCFO-1224yd(Z), from the list of refrigerants listed as VOCs...

CARB Vows To Monitor, Mitigate Fuel Price Hikes Due To LCFS Overhaul

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is committing to closely monitoring and, if necessary, mitigating gasoline and diesel price hikes as part of its approval of a sweeping overhaul to the state’s low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS), in response to a raging debate about the program’s potential to spur higher gasoline and diesel prices. “I think we do need to be extremely mindful of the effects of our program on the residents of California,” CARB Chairwoman Liane Randolph said at a...

Risk Policy Report - 11/12/2024

Mon, 2024-11-11 13:50

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