As GOP Nears House Majority, Environmentalists Fear Air Act Rollback

With Republicans closing in on a majority in both chambers of Congress, and President-elect Donald Trump poised to return to the White House, environmentalists are raising concerns that long-stalled GOP initiatives to roll back portions of the Clean Air Act or other environmental laws may now gain traction. Chief among their concerns is that any air act legislation would inject cost and feasibility concerns into public health rules. With the winners of at least 20 races still undeclared, Republicans at...

Inside TSCA - 11/11/2024

Mon, 2024-11-11 12:37

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...

Law Firms Weigh Trump Transition; ABA Holds EJ Symposium

After President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, law firms, industry groups and others will weigh the results and the outlook for EPA’s regulatory agenda. The American Bar Association (ABA) will hold its Environmental Justice (EJ) Symposium at Howard University. Trump Transition Law firm Arnold & Porter is holding a Nov. 12 post-election webinar , which will look at the implications of the recent elections and hold industry-specific discussions about anticipated legislative actions and regulatory agendas stemming from the...

Experts Analyze Election’s Effect On Climate Policy As COP29 Begins

A top oil and gas group, lawmakers, and numerous law firms will hold events to assess how the incoming Trump administration will affect climate and energy policy. The annual United Nations climate meeting known as COP29 kicks off in Azerbaijan, where negotiators will debate a new climate finance goal, and ready updated climate mitigation goals, among other matters. Also, EPA’s financial advisors host an event to weigh strategies for implementing the agency’s $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Election Analysis...

Workshop Targets TSCA’s Future; ACD Hosts Annual Meeting

An industry law firm will host a workshop this week on “navigating TSCA” that will cover the program as it stands now and in the future -- when the incoming Trump administration is likely to scrap or rework major policies governing implementation of the law. The Alliance for Chemical Distribution (ACD) is holding its annual meeting in California. ‘Navigating TSCA’ The law firm Keller and Heckman will host a workshop in Arlington, VA, Nov. 14-15, with an agenda that aims...

Tougher Lead Rules Face Uncertain Future Under Trump Administration

EPA is set to publish its final rule tightening dust-lead hazard and abatement levels, just weeks after enacting the long-awaited drinking water Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), well within a window where the incoming Trump administration could scrap or rewrite them -- though a source says that would be at odds with the first Trump term’s approach to the issue. A formal version of the agency’s dust-lead rule is slated for publication in the Nov. 12 Federal Register...

EPA Affirms Nov. 8 Effective Date For Coal Ash Rule, Clarifies Deletions

EPA is moving to correct portions of its final rule governing legacy coal combustion residuals (CCR) surface impoundments and CCR management units (CCRMU), clarifying that the rule takes effect on Nov. 8 while also amending deleted portions of the 2015 ash rule’s regulatory text, both issues that have caused stakeholder confusion. EPA published the direct-final rule in the Nov. 8 Federal Register , seeking to clarify that the “effective date of the Legacy Final Rule is November 8, 2024 and...

EPA Details Possible PFAS Test Mandates Under Continued TSCA Strategy

EPA’s draft TSCA information collection request (ICR) for its class-wide PFAS testing strategy includes what is apparently a first-time outline of the universe of studies that the agency could include in future orders, signaling a planned path forward for the program -- though there is no guarantee the incoming Trump administration will continue it. The agency is taking comment through Jan. 6 on a draft ICR that would apply generally to Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) test orders for per-...

Ameren, EPA reach mitigation deal in long-running NSR case

Ameren Missouri and EPA have reached a mitigation agreement in a long-running and high-profile new source review (NSR) enforcement case, with the power company agreeing to spend more than $60 million to provide high efficiency air filters primarily to low-income communities and to provide clean school buses in the St. Louis area. The parties, which also includes Sierra Club, submitted a Nov. 6 joint proposal and a joint proposed stipulated order in the case, United States et al. v. Ameren...

Groups Assess Prospects For Unspent IRA Climate Funds Amid Biden Push

With less than three months left in the Biden administration, environmentalists are urging officials to push remaining Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds out the door, as incoming Trump officials are likely to attempt to reallocate or slow climate-related funds that haven’t yet been distributed despite possible legal hurdles to doing so. “The vast majority of that funding” -- around three quarters of it -- “has already been awarded, and so it is pretty hard to pull back funding that’s already...

Industry Seeks Flexibility In HFC Phasedown For Defense Sprays, Foams

Industry groups are seeking continued flexibility under an EPA rule related to special carveouts in its hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phasedown program, after officials proposed to remove exceptions for certain defense sprays and boat foams even as HFCs are being broadly curtailed in most other sectors. The proposed rule concerns provisions in the 2020 American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act which listed several applications that must receive application-specific allowances (ASAs) -- meaning priority access to HFCs amid the law’s broader phasedown. The...

Denka Urges Court To Back LDEQ’s Novel Chloroprene Deadline Extension

Denka Performance Elastomer (DPE) is urging an appellate court to uphold on the merits the novel two-year deadline extension Louisiana regulators granted the company before it must meet strict new EPA chloroprene limits at its synthetic rubber plant and block the agency from denying the validity of the extension. In an Oct. 30 filing in the case, DPE, LLC, et al. v. EPA , the company urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to find that EPA’s...

Trump EPA Faces ‘Complicated’ Path For Any Methane Rule Repeal Effort

President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to pursue a sweeping deregulatory agenda at EPA comes as some observers say the incoming administration faces a heavy lift for any bid to fully scrap oil and gas methane emissions rules as officials attempted during his first term, due to the rules’ complexity and prior Hill action rebuking the initial Trump rollback. Even so, one industry source sees “other avenues” to ease the rules more narrowly, including via formal reconsideration of various provisions of the...

Industry Faults Broad PFAS Definition In EPA Ecolabels For Medical Products

Industry organizations are criticizing EPA’s proposal to expand its list of recommended products for federal purchase, arguing the broad definition of PFAS in some third-party certifications is a departure from the agency’s past approach of not treating all PFAS the same, and that the proposal places severe limitations on medical devices. Environmental groups, however, are strongly supporting the proposal. At issue is EPA’s Sept. 14 proposal to add 14 standards and ecolabels to its Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels...

Industry Asks Wisconsin High Court To Uphold Ruling Striking PFAS Listing

Industry parties are contending that Wisconsin’s highest court should uphold a landmark ruling that invalidated state regulators’ “hazardous substance” listing for PFAS and other emerging contaminants under the Wisconsin Spills Law, charging that regulators should have formally adopted rulemakings on the listing and related actions with an opportunity for public comment. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) “may not apply the [state’s] Spills Law to a vague, broad group of ‘emerging contaminants’ without using notice-and-comment rulemaking first,” says a...

3M Cites 1st Circuit Decision In Fight Over Connecticut PFAS Suit Venue

3M is continuing to cite a recent federal appellate decision rejecting Puerto Rico’s argument that a case over insulin prices should be heard in local court to bolster its stance that PFAS contamination suits from states should be heard in federal court, now targeting Connecticut’s suit that is still awaiting a district court ruling on the appropriate venue for the case. In a Nov. 5 letter to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, 3M argues per- and...

Superfund Report - 11/11/2024

Fri, 2024-11-08 16:09

Water Systems Warn PVC Pipes Could Complicate TSCA Phthalate Evaluation

California drinking water utilities are warning EPA that its draft TSCA evaluation of the phthalate DINP needs to clearly consider potential risk from its use in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes -- potentially expanding a nascent battle over the pipes’ safety as replacements for lead service lines (LSLs) under the agency’s new drinking water rule. The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), representing more than 470 public water agencies in the Golden State, filed Nov. 4 comments on the draft evaluation...

Water Systems Warn PVC Pipes Could Complicate TSCA Phthalate Evaluation

California drinking water utilities are warning EPA that its draft TSCA evaluation of the phthalate DINP needs to clearly consider potential risk from its use in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes -- potentially expanding a nascent battle over the pipes’ safety as replacements for lead service lines (LSLs) under the agency’s new drinking water rule. The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), representing more than 470 public water agencies in the Golden State, filed Nov. 4 comments on the draft evaluation...

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