EPA Agenda

EPA Rule Backers Preview Clash Over High Court Cases In GHG Risk Fight

Supporters of EPA’s greenhouse gas regulatory authority are disputing Trump administration claims that several Supreme Court rulings over the past 15 years justify re-examining the agency’s GHG endangerment finding that triggers a requirement to regulate such emissions, underscoring the upcoming clash over the import of those court decisions. EPA claimed in a March 12 announcement that the 2009 finding merits “fresh scrutiny” in part due to four high court rulings that were issued after the 2007 decision in Massachusetts v....

EPA extends GHG reporting deadline, citing delay at agency

EPA is extending by two months a deadline for dozens of industrial sectors to report their greenhouse gas emissions under the agency’s GHG Reporting Program, citing the agency’s delay in deploying software that emitters use to provide relevant information to the agency. EPA’s move, detailed in a direct final rule scheduled for Federal Register publication March 20, “only changes the reporting deadline for annual greenhouse gas (GHG) reports for reporting year 2024,” according to the prepublication Register notice...

Judge Temporarily Blocks EPA Attempt To Scuttle ‘Green Bank’ Grants

A federal district court judge is temporarily blocking EPA’s attempt to terminate three multi-billion-dollar grants under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF) program while the court rules on the broader legality of EPA’s push to scuttle the grants, finding that agency officials have not offered sufficient evidence of wrongdoing. Pending a decision on the case’s merits, EPA and Citibank “are enjoined from giving effect to” to March 11 termination letters that EPA sent to the three major grant recipients suing...

Judge Poised To Rule On Call To Release EPA’s ‘Green Bank’ Awards

Three groups that were awarded a total of $14 billion under EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF) program are fleshing out their legal claims for why the agency has improperly scuttled those grants, as a federal judge appears poised to narrowly grant their request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would restart some payments. Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who is considering three related challenges to the grant terminations, appeared sympathetic...

Observers See ‘High Risk’ Strategy In EPA’s Reopening Of GHG Finding

Experts say EPA’s decision to reopen its greenhouse gas endangerment finding faces numerous possible roadblocks -- including long-established climate science, difficult Supreme Court precedent, and Clean Air Act language that does not specify cost as a factor when determining if pollutants pose a threat to the public. Some observers, however, believe EPA is trying to tee up Supreme Court litigation that could revisit the high court’s 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA ruling that GHGs are pollutants under the statute, a...

D.C. Circuit pauses CAA 111(d) implementing rule case

The D.C. Circuit is granting the Trump administration’s unopposed call to pause litigation case concerning EPA’s Clean Air Act section 111(d) implementing regulations for state compliance plans for climate standards, though it is pausing the case for a shorter period than officials requested. The Justice Department (DOJ) sought a pause in early February for the litigation challenging the Biden EPA’s rule governing how states must comply with federal climate and air standards issued under section 111(d), arguing that new EPA...

EPA Reopens Landmark GHG Finding With New Focus On Rules’ Cost

EPA is formally reopening the agency’s landmark 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding that forms the legal basis for many of its climate rules, suggesting that Trump officials will weigh their expected costs when determining if GHGs should be regulated while potentially setting emissions thresholds below which regulation might not occur. “The agency will be kicking off a formal reconsideration of the 2009 Endangerment Finding in collaboration with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and other relevant agencies,” EPA says...

Judge Raises Concern Over EPA’s Termination Of $20 Billion GHGRF Grants

A major grant recipient of EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF) is urging a federal court to require the agency to disburse funding under its award, and the judge hearing the case appears sympathetic to its request, even as EPA lawyers are arguing the litigation is moot after officials terminated $20 billion in awards for multiple groups. “There are still rules that even the government has to follow, last I checked, and the government can’t just . . . terminate...

After Freezing Funds, Trump EPA Cancels ‘Green Bank’ Grant Agreements

EPA has canceled grant agreements for recipients of most of the agency’s multi-billion dollar Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF), following weeks of Trump EPA criticisms of the program and pressure on a private bank to freeze GHGRF accounts that it was managing on behalf of the agency. In a March 11 press release , the agency says it has “identified material deficiencies which pose an unacceptable risk to the lawful execution of these grants.” The release adds that canceling the...

EPA Plan To Scuttle GHG Finding Could End Preemption Of State Auto Rules

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s reported call to scrap the agency’s greenhouse gas endangerment finding is prompting warnings that such a move could free California or other states from needing federal preemption waivers for vehicle GHG standards, according to sources tracking the issue. At a minimum, the scenario highlights additional uncertainty and potential unintended consequences for industry -- beyond a revival of federal climate nuisance cases that waned due to EPA’s regulatory authority -- from a move the Trump administration would...

Senate Democrats Urge Citibank To Un-Freeze EPA’s ‘Green Bank’ Funds

Democratic Senators are urging Citibank to lift its reported freeze on the accounts it manages for EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF) that finances clean energy projects, even as the Trump administration has targeted the program that it believes suffers from waste and wrongdoing. The advocacy concerns Citi’s role as a “financial agent” for the Treasury Department in disbursing $20 billion from the program that the Biden administration obligated last year. “Absent a court order or other legal process requiring...

GAO Says EPA's California Vehicle Program Approvals Not Subject To CRA

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is informing Congress of its legal opinion that three recent Biden EPA federal preemption waivers for California vehicle emissions programs are not “rules” subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA) as the Trump EPA claims, a move that could block pending calls to repeal them using that law. GAO’s March 6 letter also raises procedural questions about how the Trump EPA attempted to notify Congress about two of the three waivers, suggesting this could further...

Trump EPA Picks Suggest Agency May Downplay Benefits Of U.S. GHG Cuts

Nominees for two top EPA posts are suggesting that an expected agency reconsideration of its greenhouse gas endangerment finding could rely heavily on downplaying the benefits of domestic GHG controls given global emissions, even as the viability of any bid to reopen the finding in the courts and public opinion remains highly uncertain. These suggestions, outlined during a March 5 Senate environment panel nomination hearing, come amid continuing public warnings from environmentalists and industry that scuttling EPA’s 2009 GHG risk...

Questions Swirl About Role Of IRA’s GHG Language In Endangerment Fight

EPA’s reported call to reverse its endangerment finding that supports greenhouse gas rules is prompting questions about whether Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provisions -- stating GHGs are Clean Air Act (CAA) “pollutants” and backing the goal of cutting them -- could provide some support for GHG regulations even if the finding is scuttled. However, some observers are suggesting that the IRA language could play a secondary role in an emerging battle on the issue , and early analysis is also...

EAB Requires EPA To Justify Shorter Monitoring Period In CO2 Permits

EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) is requiring officials to better explain why they approved a post-closure monitoring period much shorter than the default in one of the agency’s first carbon storage permits, elevating debate on an issue that environmentalists call a major concern due to long-term risks from carbon dioxide injected underground. “The Board remands the permit decisions to [EPA Region 5] with respect to the [post-injection site care (PISC)] timeframe because the record does not reflect the Region’s independent...

EDF files FOIA suit seeking Trump records on GHG risk finding

Environmental Defend Fund (EDF) is asking a federal court to compel release of records related to the Trump administration examination of EPA’s greenhouse gas endangerment finding, in the latest signal that environmentalists and Hill Democrats are ramping up procedural and political fights against feared efforts to scrap it. The March 3 lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia -- filed pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) -- follows a January FOIA request by EDF...

EPA Formally Seeks OIG Inquiry Into Biden-Era ‘Green Bank’ Program

EPA is formally requesting its Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigate the implementation of the Biden-era Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF), expanding Trump officials’ attack on the program that they view as facing “mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and oversight failures.” The request for a “comprehensive review” of the program is part of a March 2 letter to the OIG from acting Deputy Administrator W.C. McIntosh, and it comes as the Justice Department (DOJ) is also investigating the program at the...

Critics Aim To Make GHG Risk Finding Fight An ‘Embarrassment’ For Trump

Environmentalists and their Capitol Hill allies are looking to maximize the political cost to the Trump EPA if it attempts to undo the agency’s landmark greenhouse gas endangerment finding, arguing such a move ignores climate damages the public is experiencing and pledging to make such a move an “embarrassment” for the White House. The quick political attacks add to pushback from major industry groups, which are amplifying prior warnings that scrapping the finding -- which forms the legal basis for...

Zeldin’s Call To Scrap GHG Risk Finding Would Spur Complex Court Fight

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is reportedly urging the White House to scrap the agency’s long-standing greenhouse gas endangerment finding, the basis for its climate rules, opening the door to a drawn-out, complex court battle while also opening industry up to major common law legal risks. Zeldin’s recommendation, which was first reported by the Washington Post , would most immediately remove the legal basis for EPA’s GHG rules for vehicles, power plants, landfills and other major industrial sectors, though rules...

Senate Democrats Blast Zeldin’s Move To Freeze ‘Green Bank’ Funding

Senate Democrats are pressing EPA to detail its legal justification for freezing $20 billion in already-obligated funds from the Biden EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF) that finances clean energy projects, charging that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is using a “smokescreen” to freeze the funds. “Tellingly, you levy no allegations of waste, fraud, or abuse -- because you have evidence of none,” says a Feb. 24 letter to Zeldin from nine Democrats on the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee...

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