Air

Tracking the latest agency and congressional debates over rules to cut emissions of traditional pollutants, and a broad range of novel EPA policies including the agency's shift to a "multipollutant" regulatory approach for individual sectors.

Topic Subtitle
Tracking the latest agency and congressional debates over rules to cut emissions of traditional pollutants, and a broad range of novel EPA policies including the agency's shift to a "multipollutant" regulatory approach for individual sectors.

EPA To Seek Input On Small Business’ Requests On Power Plant GHG Rule

EPA is readying a supplemental notice for its closely watched power plant greenhouse gas rule that will seek input on “regulatory flexibilities” recently requested by a small business advocacy panel, a move that could address concerns from the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) advocacy office, which charged that the rule could harm small entities. An agency spokesperson tells Inside EPA’s Climate Extra that the pending notice would give the public an opportunity to comment on “specific regulatory flexibilities suggested”...

Court Leans Toward Extending Interstate Air Rule Stay In West Virginia

A divided regional appeals court panel appears inclined to grant West Virginia’s request for a continued stay of EPA’s disapproval of the state’s interstate ozone plan, a move that would extend a freeze on implementing the federal Good Neighbor Plan (GNP) rule in the state, amid intense uncertainty over the rule’s future nationally. During an Oct. 27 hearing, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit seemed to split 2-1 on whether to confirm that...

Democrats Push Tough Plastics Bill But Also Weigh ‘Innovative Approaches’

Democratic lawmakers are pushing for tough new legislation that seeks to drive more aggressive EPA action targeting single-use plastics as well as future permits for plastics facilities while also seeking input on voluntary “innovative approaches” and “ambitious” efforts from companies to promote reduction, reuse and recycling. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) on Oct. 24 introduced an updated version of their “Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act,” which they tout as “the most comprehensive plan ever introduced...

Wyoming, PacifiCorp Sue EPA To Force Approval Of State Haze Plans

Wyoming and electric utility PacifiCorp are suing EPA to force agency approval or denial of Wyoming and Utah state implementation plans (SIPs) for curbing regional haze, filing suits in federal district courts only days before environmentalists are expected to sue over EPA’s failure to act on these and many other haze plans. Wyoming in a suit filed Oct. 24 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming says EPA has missed an August deadline to approve or deny...

Utah Fights EPA On Interstate Ozone, As High Court, 4th Circuit Action Looms

Utah is making final arguments in litigation against EPA’s disapproval of the state’s interstate ozone plan, a legal prerequisite to the largely stayed Good Neighbor Plan (GNP) rule, as the Supreme Court weighs whether to fully stay the federal rule and another appellate court prepares for a hearing on whether to further stay West Virginia’s participation in the program. In final merits briefs submitted Oct. 24 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in State of Utah...

EPA Said To Delay Schedule For Completing ‘Phase 3’ Truck GHG Rule

EPA’s timeline for finalizing tougher “phase 3” greenhouse gas requirements for heavy-duty trucks appears to be slipping, with sources tracking the rulemaking stating that officials are now aiming to issue the package sometime in March rather than by the end of this year as EPA has previously hoped. EPA’s press office did not immediately respond to a query on the issue. But an industry source cites indications from the agency that it is now eyeing a March timeframe for the...

EPA Expected To Tighten PM2.5 Annual Limit To Low End Of Planned Range

EPA is expected to select a tougher annual standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) at the low end of the range it has proposed, sources say, a move that industry groups say would set the standard close to background levels and push many more areas of the country into nonattainment and increase their regulatory burdens. The sources say that agency and White House officials are discussing a limit of 9 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) amid recent lobbying activity from...

Steel Industry Sues EPA Over Tougher Electric Arc Furnace Air Rule

The steel sector is suing EPA over the agency’s tougher air regulations for electric arc furnaces (EAFs) used in steel recycling, which the industry says is “impermissibly retroactive” and unsupported by emissions data or legal authority, in the latest in a series of current and likely future lawsuits to be brought by steelmakers against the Biden EPA. In their suit filed Oct. 24 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the American Iron and Steel...

CARB Weighs Tough Post-MY25 Auto GHG Limits Based On EPA Plan

California air regulators are considering tough new greenhouse gas standards for model year 2026-35 passenger vehicles via amendments to the state’s existing Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) regulation, which does not address GHGs, based in part on EPA’s pending multi-pollutant standards that would cover many of the same model years. In addition, California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff are also considering updates to the ACC II’s existing zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) purchase mandate provisions. The state’s August 2022 rule established...

EPA Floats New Air Modeling Guidance, With Focus On Cumulative Impacts

EPA is proposing an update to its technical guidelines on modeling air pollution, with a new emphasis on estimating the cumulative impact of multiple pollution sources on local populations, in an action that has implications for how air regulators determine attainment of potentially tougher federal air quality limits, and how they write air permits. In an Oct. 23 proposed rule , EPA announces the intended update to its Guideline on Air Quality Models, including changes to its American Meteorological Society...

EPA Faces Widening Litigation Over Regional Haze Program Plan Delays

Environmentalists are expanding their litigation seeking to force EPA action to ensure that states have the necessary plans in place to reduce regional haze, as the vast majority of state plans for the second phase of the program are now either overdue or awaiting EPA action. In a notice of intent to sue (NOI) that EPA posted to its website Oct. 23, Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) and Earthjustice on Aug. 23 threatened to sue the agency over...

EPA Agrees To Deadline For Sweeping Chemical Plants Air Toxics Review

EPA has agreed with environmentalists on a proposed timetable to review its air toxics regulations for hundreds of smaller “area source” chemical manufacturing facilities, in a sweeping rulemaking that could tighten emissions limits in the pesticides, plastics, pharmaceutical, synthetic rubber and other chemical sectors. In its proposed consent decree deal announced in the Oct. 20 Federal Register , EPA commits to review its national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for the Chemical Manufacturing Area Sources (CMAS) source category...

Truckers, Dealers Press CARB To Relax NOx Rules, Citing Supply Shortage

Trucking companies, dealers and others are urging California officials to further relax their low-nitrogen oxide (NOx) rules for model year 2024-26 heavy-duty diesel engines, charging that proposed amendments that seek to ease compliance with the requirements will not do enough to overcome significant supply shortages of compliant new trucks. “We’re here today because this regulation is disrupting the supply of new trucks into the California market. Member companies have reported sales allocation cuts as deep as 60 to 90 percent...

Attorneys Flag ‘Far-Reaching Effects’ Of EPA’s Climate Enforcement Push

Industry attorneys are warning about the potential “far-reaching effects” of the Biden EPA’s stepped-up focus on climate change as part of enforcement actions, arguing that officials appear poised to include both mitigation- and adaptation-focused elements in enforcement actions across environmental media. A heightened priority on climate at various agencies, as well as EPA’s new climate enforcement strategy, “are likely to have immediate and far-reaching effects on the regulated community,” warns Barnes & Thornburg attorney Bruce White in an Oct. 10...

Health Advocates, Industry Clash Over PM NAAQS In Last-Ditch Lobbying

Public health advocates and industry groups are staking out competing stances as they lobby the Biden administration over EPA’s imminent rule that is expected to strengthen fine particulate matter (PM2.5) standards, with advocates pushing to toughen limits more than proposed, while industry groups warn the move would be economically harmful. Supporters and opponents of tougher national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for PM2.5 are now meeting with EPA and White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) officials to make...

Judge Sets March ’24 Trial Date In EPA’s Landmark Denka Enforcement Suit

EPA’s closely watched enforcement action over releases at a Louisiana chemical facility -- the first to test the agency’s rarely used Clean Air Act authority to address an “imminent and substantial endangerment” -- is slated to go to trial early next year. Judge Carl Barbier of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued an Oct. 23 order setting a March 11, 2024 date for a 10-day bench trial in the suit USA v. Denka Performance Elastomer...

Environmentalists Fight Effort To Preserve Air Permit ‘Affirmative Defense’

Environmentalists are seeking to intervene in industry litigation aimed at scrapping EPA’s July rule barring use of “affirmative defense” waivers in air permits, even as industry groups step up their attacks on the policy, charging it violates key constitutional prohibitions on uncompensated takings and unlawful search and seizure. In an Oct. 19 motion , groups including Sierra Club, Environmental Integrity Project and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for...

Legal Experts See Possible ‘Early’ High Court Action On Vehicle Rules

Prominent legal experts are suggesting ongoing court battles over EPA’s vehicle emissions policies could see “early” Supreme Court review based on the justices’ concerns about future rules, even if a key appeals court were to uphold existing vehicle standards or dismiss relevant challenges on procedural grounds. The suggestion builds on indications that state and fuels sector litigants challenging EPA and California vehicle greenhouse gas standards are tailoring their arguments in the appellate case to entice Supreme Court intervention, by asserting...

EPA Asks Ohio To Address EJ Concerns In Permit For Tire-To-Fuel Plant

EPA is asking Ohio environmental officials to add conditions to better address environmental justice (EJ) issues in a draft permit for a Youngstown facility that proposes to convert tire chips into energy, warning that the agency “has determined that the draft permitting action raises potential [EJ] concerns” and potential civil rights problems as well. The request, spelled out in a letter sent to state officials last month, is the latest indication that the agency is continuing to press states to...

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