From Climate Extra

Forthcoming ‘Green Bank’ Venue Decision May Muddy Program’s Future

An upcoming D.C. Circuit decision in litigation over EPA’s “green bank” program could significantly delay grant recipients’ efforts to challenge EPA’s termination of $20 billion in awards, making it challenging for them to stay afloat in the meantime or potentially exposing the funds to congressional repeal. Observers are expecting a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will soon decide whether the case, Climate United Fund, et al. v. Citibank, et al. ,...

EPA Quietly Converts Oil & Gas Methane Delay Rule To Interim Final Status

EPA now appears poised to quickly delay compliance deadlines for Biden-era oil and gas methane standards, with officials stating that the White House is reviewing an interim final rule to delay the deadlines immediately despite prior indications that they would advance the measure as a conventional proposed regulation. The Office of Management & Budget (OMB) earlier posted a notice that it received from EPA on June 4 a “proposed” rule. The rule is expected to extend various deadlines in the...

EPA Begins Oil & Gas Methane Standards Rollback With Deadline Delay Rule

EPA is taking a first step toward rolling back oil and gas sector methane standards, submitting a draft proposal to the White House that would extend compliance deadlines in current rules for new and existing emissions sources amid expectations that officials will develop a subsequent rule to ease the limit themselves. The Office of Management & Budget (OMB) on June 4 began reviewing a proposal focused on deadline extensions for “new, reconstructed and modified sources,” as well as existing sources,...

Jockeying On IRA Provisions Ramps Up As Senate Begins Budget Debate

As Senate Republicans begin crafting their budget reconciliation legislation, supporters of various low-carbon energy sources are jockeying to win at least partial reprieve from House-passed language that mostly guts incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), even as some suggest the Senate might only make modest changes to the House plan. Meanwhile, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) is floating draft legislation for its portion of the reconciliation bill that broadly mirrors House provisions, including rescinding various IRA...

CARB Floats Definitions, Compliance Options For Climate Disclosure Rules

California Air Resources Board (CARB) officials are floating key definitions and compliance timelines for rules to implement landmark laws requiring large companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, while also seeking additional input from stakeholders regarding the initial proposals. “We know that these are complex issues, but we’re committed to developing a regulation that is streamlined, sound and clear,” said Sydney Vergis, a CARB assistant division chief, during a May 29 staff workshop on the development of...

Automakers Urge EPA To Soften Criteria Limits Alongside GHG Rollback

Auto-sector representatives are renewing their press for the Trump EPA to quickly soften criteria emissions limits for model year 2027 and subsequent vehicles and not prioritize rollbacks of greenhouse gas standards over such changes, according to multiple sources. The push comes as the timeline for an expected proposal to ease vehicle standards remains unclear, even though EPA a month ago sent a draft proposal to eliminate power plant GHG standards to the White House for inter-agency review. Automakers have been...

Prices, Sales Fall Further In Latest California-Quebec GHG Allowance Auction

Prices and sales of greenhouse gas allowances fell again at the latest California-Quebec cap-and-trade auction, with current-year credits for the first time in years failing to sell out, prompting experts to renew warnings that policy uncertainty surrounding California’s program is undercutting the performance of the quarterly auctions. “Today’s auction results show another dip in prices and loss of important revenue, driving home the very real cost of uncertainty around the reauthorization of this program beyond 2030, despite [Gov. Gavin Newsom’s...

IPI Rebuts Expected EPA Arguments Over Power Plant GHG ‘Contribution’

A left-leaning think tank is seeking to rebut the Trump EPA’s expected argument that power plants’ greenhouse gases do not “significantly contribute” to climate change and therefore should not be regulated, with the group asserting the sector’s emissions are clearly a major factor in climate change risks. “[P]ower sector emissions ‘significantly contribute’ to climate change by any measure -- and certainly, under the approach that EPA has taken to assess significant contributions over the past [50] years,” New York University’s...

DOT, States Battle Over Whether Court Should Unfreeze EV Charger Funds

Over a dozen states and the Department of Transportation (DOT) are sparring over whether a court should block Trump officials from continuing to stall infrastructure law funding to states for electric vehicle (EV) chargers, as the states and environmental groups argue the funding freeze is unlawful. The battle over states’ request for a preliminary injunction in the case comes as environmental groups are seeking to intervene in the dispute -- State of Washington, et al. v. DOT , pending in...

California Scrambles To Avoid Fuel Supply ‘Crisis’ Amid GHG Policy Debate

California officials are scrambling to craft a multi-pronged strategy to avoid a transportation fuel supply crisis as two oil refineries are scheduled to close within roughly the next year, while stressing that such efforts must occur while the state strives to achieve its aggressive greenhouse gas-reduction and climate change goals. “What we’re entering right now is not a small thing, and we need to solve this. If we don’t proactively solve this, this will become a crisis. And we need...

Environmentalists Ask States To Electrify Industrial Boilers To Cut Emissions

Environmental groups are urging states to pursue clean energy policies focused on reducing carbon dioxide and conventional air emissions from industrial boilers that burn fossil fuels, using electrification to reduce pollution from a sector that to date has garnered less attention than power plants or vehicles. In a May 28 report , “Embracing Clean Heat,” the groups Evergreen Collaborative and Sierra Club tout industrial boilers as an overlooked potential source of greenhouse gas and conventional air pollution reductions. But amid...

California Bill To Set First-Time Standards For CO2 ‘Removal’ Credit Stalls

California state senators are declining to advance a bill that would set first-time standards to ensure the “scientific integrity” of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies that can generate greenhouse gas-reduction credits for emissions removed from the atmosphere and stored, meaning the measure is dead for this year’s session. The bill, SB 285 by Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), was not brought up for a vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 23, the deadline for bills to pass the...

EPA Utility GHG Plan Seen As Bid To Scuttle All Stationary Source Rules

EPA’s draft plan that reportedly would eliminate greenhouse gas rules for power plants because they do not “contribute significantly” to climate harms likely previews the agency’s arguments to scrap controls for all stationary sources, but observers say the approach carries significant legal risks given that the power sector is responsible for a quarter of national emissions. The approach, first reported by the New York Times , relies on a key legal argument that power plants’ GHGs do not “contribute significantly”...

White House Withdraws Biden-Era Climate Guidance For NEPA Reviews

The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is formally withdrawing the Biden administration’s guidance for how to consider greenhouse gas emissions in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews, arguing the guide is inconsistent with the Trump administration’s policy to ensure “reliable energy.” A notice withdrawing the guidance , scheduled to be published in the May 28 Federal Register , adds that withdrawal is also appropriate because the guide promoted the use of the social cost of carbon (SCC) metric...

Democratic States Launch New Clean-Car Group After Trump, GOP Attacks

The governors of California and 10 other Democratic-led states are launching a new coalition to “advance clean cars” and “preserve states’ clean air authority,” in response to multiple recent actions by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to strip states of such mobile source programs and legal power. “These actions have included attempts to terminate funding for electric vehicle infrastructure, impose tariffs and disrupt supply chains, eliminate consumer credits for purchasing an electric vehicle, raise consumer costs for owning an...

California Climate ‘Superfund’ Bill Backers Urge Support Amid Long Odds

Supporters of two bills in the California Legislature to create a novel climate change “superfund” program requiring fossil fuel companies to pay the state likely hundreds of billions of dollars for various climate-linked damages are seeking to rally support for the measures, despite widespread belief that the bills face long odds for passage this year. “Making corporate polluters pay their fair share for climate damages will ease the burden on California taxpayers and generate revenue to invest in disaster response,...

California Leaders Plan Lawsuit To Block CRA Repeal Of ZEV Rule Waivers

Top California leaders are pledging to sue federal officials to block Congress’ move to repeal Clean Air Act preemption waivers allowing the state to implement its zero-emission clean car and truck regulations, after the GOP-led Senate adopted Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions rescinding the waivers. “With these votes, Senate Republicans are bending the knee to President Trump once again,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said in a May 22 press release. “The weaponization of the [CRA] to attack California’s...

Senate Blocks California Vehicle Rules Via CRA, Sparking Major Fallout

The Senate has approved resolutions to scuttle preemption waivers for three major California vehicle emissions programs using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), triggering sweeping consequences for state efforts to curb air pollution and sparking questions about how they might respond in court or with alternative policies. Republicans focused much of their political messaging on the Golden State’s Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) program, which includes a 100 percent zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) sales mandate by 2035, though the CRA...

House Passes Legislation With Sharper IRA Cuts, Amid Cloudy Senate Fate

The House has narrowly approved budget reconciliation legislation that would slash clean energy tax credits more aggressively than previously floated, putting the package even closer to a full repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) incentives even as observers expect the Senate to reverse at least some of those cuts. Passage of the bill May 22 on a 215-214 vote came after House Republican leadership unveiled new changes to the legislation late May 21, including provisions that accelerate a phaseout...

5th Circuit Rejects Challenge To Louisiana CO2 Permit Rule On Standing

The 5th Circuit is dismissing environmental justice (EJ) groups’ suit over EPA’s rule granting Louisiana primary authority over Class VI carbon storage well permits, finding the groups failed to establish standing to sue -- potentially making it more difficult for other groups to challenge EPA’s future approvals of state permitting programs. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit says in a May 21 ruling in Deep South Center for Environmental Justice v. EPA...

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