ISSUE: Inside Cal/EPA

Lawyers Urge Uncertain Firms To Comply With CARB GHG-Disclosure Rules

Industry attorneys are recommending that even if large companies are uncertain if they must comply with the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) pending greenhouse gas and climate risk disclosure rules, they should still file initial reports when they are due, in anticipation that board officials will clarify key terms and definitions early next year. “I think that companies should conservatively assume that if there is the possibility that they’ll need to report, go ahead and report, even if it is...

Law Firm Says New California Cap & Invest Laws Send ‘Strong’ Global Signal

Two new California laws to extend and modify the state’s greenhouse gas market -- which has been renamed as a “cap-and-invest” program -- are sending “a strong signal globally” about using such systems to address carbon emissions, according to an analysis by attorneys with the industry-focused law firm Latham & Watkins. “The new laws restore long-term‑ statutory authority, largely maintaining the market architecture that has governed the program since 2017, and preserve significant discretion for the California Air Resources Board...

Citing Climate, Justices Doubt Trump Authority To Impose Unilateral Tariffs

Most of the Supreme Court’s conservative justices joined their liberal colleagues in expressing doubts over President Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to unilaterally impose tariffs, with Justice Neil Gorsuch warning the government’s stance could allow future presidents to impose tariffs to address a climate emergency. But while the justices expressed doubts on the government’s position, they appeared to be more divided on whether the duties Trump has imposed so far could survive under a relatively...

Democrats’ Election Wins Boost Calls To Embrace ‘Clean, Cheap’ Energy

Democrats’ strong showing in the Nov. 4 off-year elections is prompting clean energy advocates to ramp up their pitch for policymakers to embrace “cheaper and cleaner” power as an electoral boost, amid indications that concerns about inflation and affordability were a major factor in the party’s victories. The scope of the victories -- centered largely in liberal or swing states like California, Virginia and New Jersey but also including key pickups in conservative states like Georgia -- is also prompting...

Critics Say DOJ Uses Vague Language To Confuse Courts In EJ Grant Cases

Trump administration critics say it is intentionally using vague language in executive orders and legal filings in order to confuse courts and stymie legal challenges to EPA and other agency efforts to freeze environmental justice (EJ) grants over the administration’s opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. The effort, so far, appears to be working, at least in getting courts to reject preliminary injunction (PI) requests that in many cases will then allow EPA to move obligated and awarded,...

Tariff Case Seen Driving Courts On ‘Major Questions,’ Emergency Action

The Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments Nov. 5 in a case over President Trump’s tariffs and the decision could have big impacts for the reach of the “major questions” doctrine (MQD) in environmental cases, whether courts can review presidential emergency actions and could even help drive future environmental policy, sources say. The case, Learning Resources, Inc., et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al. , challenges Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Power Act (IEEPA) to impose...

Industry Faults CARB GHG-Reporting Template, Seeks Compliance Delays

Numerous industry groups from across the country are faulting the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) greenhouse gas-reporting template that thousands of companies can use to publicly divulge for the first time their emissions profiles as required by a landmark 2023 state law, while also reiterating calls for compliance delays. “[T]here are concerns that use of the Draft Reporting Template, which contains nearly 200 spreadsheet rows, is likely to result in over-reporting, impose undue administrative burdens, and compromise the accuracy and...

Court Grants Industry Bid To Block CARB Enforcement Of Clean Truck Pact

A federal court is granting truck manufacturers’ request for a preliminary injunction on the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) 2023 Clean Truck Partnership (CTP), agreeing with industry that CARB’s recent state court suit to enforce the deal marked a backdoor means of enforcing emissions rules despite Congress’ repeal of EPA’s preemption waivers. However, the court is rejecting the truck makers’ request for injunctions on several CARB regulations, as well as their First Amendment claim. CARB’s “filing of that lawsuit is...

Environmentalists, Utilities Clash Over Softening California GHG Targets

California’s largest electric utilities and environmentalists are clashing over whether the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) should ease greenhouse gas-reduction targets for 2030 and beyond, engaging in disputes about whether enough affordable renewable power will come online to meet demand growth and achieve the targets. “The Commission must uphold and maintain its greenhouse gas (‘GHG’) planning targets,” attorneys for the California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) and Sierra Club argue in Oct. 31 comments to CPUC. “Some parties suggest loosening the...

EPA’s Repeal Proposal Sparks Fears Of Costly GHG Reporting ‘Patchwork’

Technology and other groups are warning that EPA’s proposal to gut its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) could raise costs to businesses due to the likely need to implement ramped up voluntary or state-based reporting programs, while also jeopardizing the competitiveness of U.S. exports. The concerns surface in formal comments to the agency filed by a Nov. 3 deadline, including warnings that scuttling GHG reporting mandates could spur a proliferation of state reporting programs and hamper data availability critical to...

L.A. District Rebuts Gas Firms’ 9th Circuit Claims To Block Boiler Rule

The Los Angeles regional air district is urging the 9th Circuit to reject natural gas firms’ request for an injunction blocking the district’s zero-emission boiler rule, rebutting claims that the rule violates a 2024 precedent that a city’s ban on gas hookups to new buildings was preempted by the Energy Policy & Conservation Act (EPCA), among other claims. “Plaintiffs seek extraordinary relief. Having lost on the merits . . . they ask this Court to enjoin pending appeal Rule 1146.2...

CARB Unveils Rule Concepts To Implement New Cap & Invest Program Laws

California Air Resources Board (CARB) officials are floating regulatory concepts to implement two new laws overhauling the state’s greenhouse gas cap-and-invest program, including by reducing GHG allowances given for free to regulated sectors and mitigating emissions leakage -- while also broadly considering “affordability” effects. “Reduced federal efforts to address GHG emissions or to provide financial support for decarbonization underscores the need for California leadership in reducing GHG emissions while considering affordability and minimizing emissions leakage,” states a CARB staff presentation...

Judge Denies DOT Bid To Stay California Suit Over High-Speed Rail Funds

A federal judge is denying the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) bid to pause California’s lawsuit to recoup more than $4 billion in federal grants for the state’s high-speed rail project, agreeing that the federal government shutdown does not warrant abeyance of the case and that California faces substantial negative impacts. “The court finds that the possible damage which may result from the granting of a stay is significant: Plaintiff faces the risk of federal funding being re-obligated before the court...

California Charges Truck Makers With Breaching Pact To Lower Emissions

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is suing four major truck manufacturers in state court for allegedly breaching their commitments to reduce emissions under the board’s 2023 Clean Truck Partnership (CTP), even as the same truck makers are suing the board in federal court to overturn the CTP. “This action reflects CARB’s commitment to ensure that agreements with industry are not only meaningful, but that parties making agreements follow through and California gets the benefits of its bargain, which protects...

EV Group Objects To Pausing Suit Over Not Enforcing Fuel Economy Limits

The electric vehicle (EV) sector is opposing any move to pause its lawsuit over the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) decision to stop enforcing fuel economy standards while the agency revises them, citing immediate and ongoing harm to companies in the sector. The objection in an Oct, 27 filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit comes amid a broader legal fight over NHTSA’s “interpretive” rule declaring that Biden officials erred in their treatment of EVs...

EPA, Truck Makers Ask Court To Deny CARB Bid To Dismiss Suit Over Rules

EPA and truck manufacturers are asking a federal court to deny the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) bid to dismiss portions of industry’s and EPA’s challenge to the board’s 2023 Clean Truck Partnership (CTP) and several emission rules, arguing those measures pose ongoing injury to federal government sovereignty and businesses. “It is well settled that the United States’ sovereign interests are harmed when its laws are violated and when any state usurps the United States’ exclusive authority to regulate,” EPA...

ExxonMobil Suit Against California Climate Laws Targets CARB Protocols

ExxonMobil’s new First Amendment lawsuit challenging California’s laws requiring large companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risks is targeting an existing state GHG reporting protocol, the required use of a specific reporting framework, and the state air board’s recently released reporting templates. ExxonMobil “has voiced disagreement with numerous aspects of the GHG Protocol. Starting in 2026, S.B. 253 will compel ExxonMobil to supplement its speech with information ExxonMobil believes will, at best, be unnecessary and counterproductive,”...

California Warns Trump Rollbacks Threaten Ability To Meet EPA Air Goals

California Air Resources Board (CARB) officials are warning that the Trump administration’s rollback of multiple air regulations -- including repealing the state’s authority for several of its strict vehicle standards -- will significantly increase pollution, health impacts and death, while also threatening the state’s ability to achieve federal air standards. “California has led the world in cleaning up the air we breathe -- but the fight isn’t over. Now, the federal government is stripping away the tools we need to...

Former Officials Doubt EPA Can Preserve Preemption Without GHG Finding

Two former Biden administration officials are asserting that courts will not allow EPA to simultaneously argue it lacks a legal basis to regulate greenhouse gases, but that the Clean Air Act would still preempt both common law climate suits and state vehicle emissions programs. The critiques underscore a debate over whether EPA’s high-stakes push to undo its GHG endangerment finding and related vehicle GHG rules could open new paths to advancing climate nuisance claims and state vehicle emissions limits --...

Senate Advances Bill Easing NEPA, Air Policy For Forest Management Efforts

A Senate committee has approved legislation that rolls back National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements for forestry management projects, easing the path for passage of the bipartisan bill after the House approved similar legislation earlier this year. Enacting such legislation could mark one of the few NEPA-related measures to pass this Congress, despite calls from lawmakers in both parties for broader NEPA revisions. In addition to the NEPA waiver, the legislation also requires EPA to work with agencies to update...

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