Activists Urge Brown To Reject International Forest Credits In Cap & Trade

A coalition of more than 30 activist organizations, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, is urging Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to reject the use of international forest carbon offset credits in the state's greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade program, arguing the credits lack environmental integrity. The plea from the activists is intended as a preemptive tactic against a group of GHG offset experts created by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and the governors of the Mexican state of Chiapas and...

Delay Of ARB Hydrogen-Station Rule Sparks Speculation About Fate

An unexpected delay in the finalization of a controversial air board regulation requiring oil companies to build hydrogen-fueling stations to serve hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) is sparking speculation that board officials may be reconsidering the rules due to pressure from multiple special interests and the promise of a lawsuit by the oil industry. One oil industry source said concerns from a variety of stakeholders, including some Democrats in the Legislature, auto companies and independent hydrogen station builders, could be causing...

Activists Charge Water Board Appointment Reforms May Spur Industry Bias

Environmentalists say they are very disappointed in reforms to the regional water board appointment process that were approved in the state's final budget legislation, including a provision relaxing a disputed rule that aims to prevent those receiving income from regulated entities from serving on the boards. Activists argue that changes to the conflict-of-interest rules for appointments could lead to extreme industry bias in decisions at regional boards. Activists also complain they were not included in any discussion about the reforms...

Activists Bid To Defend Climate NSPS

Environmentalists are seeking to intervene on EPA's behalf to defend the agency's proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) new source performance standards (NSPS) for power plants from an unusual industry lawsuit that takes the rare step of challenging a proposal rather than a final rule. The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund and others filed a July 12 motion in the case, Las Brisas Energy Center, et al. v. EPA, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the...

Activists Fight Biomass Permit Deferral

Environmentalists are reiterating their calls for a federal appeals court to scrap EPA's three-year deferral for biomass sources from having to obtain greenhouse gas (GHG) permits, arguing the agency has failed to meet its “heavy burden” for proving why the exemption is necessary. In a July 10 reply brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in the deferral suit, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and other environmental groups says EPA's deferral has...

Louisiana Department Of Environmental Quality Suit

Louisiana Department Of Environmental Quality Response To EPA

 

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Environmentalists' Motion

Industry Lays Out Statement Of Issues

 

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Activists Float 'Flexible' GHG Reduction Program For Existing Power Plants

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is floating a draft framework for how EPA could reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) from existing power plants with "flexible" measures such as energy efficiency and emissions trading, drawing cautious support from some utilities who warn they must receive credit for GHG cuts already achieved. EPA has proposed a new source performance standard (NSPS) to reduce GHGs from new fossil fuel-fired utilities that limits GHG emissions to a level of 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2)...

EPA Official Downplays Possibility Of New Plants Losing NSPS Exemption

A top EPA air official is downplaying concerns that owners of new coal power plants could lose an exemption from having to meet the agency's pending greenhouse gas (GHG) rule for utilities if activists sue to block the facilities and the litigation delays the new plants' construction beyond the deadline for the exemption. The threat of activist lawsuits over Clean Air Act permits is another potential issue for new coal plant developers eager to use the exemption. The developers recently...

Reviewers Belatedly Question EPA's 'Likely' Cancer Listing For Dioxane

Experts reviewing EPA's draft assessment setting first-time inhalation risks for 1,4-dioxane, a ubiquitous Superfund contaminant, are questioning the agency's already final decision to set the chemical's listing to "likely human carcinogen," raising doubts about prospects for revising the classification. Dioxane has long been a concern in drinking water and at Superfund sites, and in recent years environmentalists and public health groups have questioned its appearance in consumer products like soaps and shampoos. In 2007, the Agency for Toxic Substances &...

Insider -- July 12, 2012

Illinois Pulls GHG Permit Illinois officials have withdrawn a greenhouse gas (GHG) permit for a coal gasification facility after EPA asked the state to reconsider its decision not to require carbon capture technology at the plant: Illinois Pulls Permit To Weigh Novel EPA Call For CCS As GHG Control Option The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) has taken the unusual step of withdrawing its air permit for a proposed coal gasification facility after EPA Region V officials urged the...

South Coast Staff Presentation Previews 2012 Draft AQMP

Activists File Opening Brief In 9th Circuit Case Over Near-Roadway PM Monitoring

 

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A.G. Objects To Prop. 65 Attorney Fees In Settlement

Plaintiff Group Defends Prop. 65 Attorney Fees Sought In Case

 

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Methanol Institute Challenges OEHHA Prop. 65 MADL

Wood Product Groups Question OEHHA Prop. 65 Methanol Plan

 

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EPA Issues Plan To Ease Air Rule Compliance Using Clean Energy Credits

EPA has quietly issued a “roadmap” clarifying how states can win air quality credits for energy efficiency and renewable energy (EE/RE) projects, a move that agency and some state officials say could help ease regulators’ ability to rely on the projects for complying with increasingly more stringent air quality standards and other requirements in the future. The use of such projects in state and tribal air quality plans also provides a mechanism to make the programs federally enforceable in some...

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