Outlook 2024

OUTLOOK 2024

Election 2024, High Court Cases Pose Vital Tests For Environmental Policy

Inside EPA's Outlook 2024 is our special report about the crucial year ahead in environmental policy. Before an election that will determine control of Congress and the White House, battle lines are already hardening between the Biden administration and GOP critics who are targeting major upcoming EPA rules, including measures addressing greenhouse gases, PFAS and other industrial chemicals, air and water quality and more. The Supreme Court could upend EPA and other agencies’ abilities to interpret statutes and open established regulations to new legal challenges. Lower courts are also grappling with high-profile issues, including the reach of the Clean Water Act, how EPA implements the Toxic Substances Control Act and California’s federal preemption waivers to strictly regulate mobile sources. Industry groups are hoping the Senate will quickly pass legislation exempting some parties from Superfund liability for their PFAS releases as they seek protection from upcoming EPA rules. Environmental justice advocates are ramping up efforts to block the Biden administration from approving carbon capture and storage projects. And the Biden EPA’s plan requiring replacement of lead service lines faces significant hurdles.

Court’s ‘Blockbuster’ Cases Could ‘Radically Change’ Administrative Law

The Supreme Court is poised to make significant changes to longstanding administrative law precedent, with a series of cases to be decided this term that could dramatically upend EPA and other agencies’ ability to interpret statutes, conduct administrative enforcement as well as open established regulations to new legal challenges. “This term has several blockbuster cases that have the potential for radically changing administrative law requirements,” John Cruden, a former top Obama administration environment official in the Justice Department, tells Inside...

November Election To Offer High Stakes For Climate, Environment Policy

The upcoming 2024 election is launching a fight over control of the White House and Congress with significant stakes for climate and environmental policy, amid hardening battle lines between the Biden administration and GOP opponents who have vowed to roll back major initiatives that officials are racing to finalize. The Biden administration and its allies are already touting a list of climate-related accomplishments, even as officials continue to roll out programs created by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). But...

Upcoming PFAS Rules May Heighten Urgency For CERCLA Liability Waivers

Upcoming EPA rules to regulate PFAS in drinking water and under waste laws will likely heighten the urgency for the water and waste management sectors and other so-called “passive receivers” of PFAS contamination to secure exemptions from Superfund liability in Senate legislation in 2024, one water sector source says. “From my perspective, the finalization of the hazardous substance designations for PFOA and PFOS will add to the urgency of providing [Superfund] liability protections for passive receivers like drinking water and...

Logjam Of Major Air Rules Likely In 2024, Raising Risks To Biden Agenda

EPA is heading into 2024, the final year of President Joe Biden’s current term, rushing to complete a slew of significant air rules, measures that could be vulnerable to congressional repeal if the agency does not finalize them by early summer and Republicans take control of Congress and the White House in the upcoming election. Major rules now awaiting finalization include tighter fine particulate standards, a revision of power plant mercury rules, major chemical sector reforms, action to remove startup...

Biden WOTUS Regime Remains Uncertain As Post-Sackett Battles Continue

The Biden administration’s implementation of its amended “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule to align with the Supreme Court’s Sackett ruling remains uncertain, as states and industry continue to battle over its legality and lower courts have begun strictly applying the high court’s standard rather than deferring to the administration’s new rule. “I think it means we’re going to continue to see some Judges applying the Supreme Court’s Sackett holding to determine the extent of Clean Water...

EPA, California Advance Multiple Air Act Waivers As High Court Test Looms

California and EPA officials are advancing multiple Clean Air Act (CAA) preemption waivers allowing the state to implement tougher emissions standards for locomotives, harbor craft and passenger vehicles, amid speculation that the conservative Supreme Court could weigh challenges to waivers that have already been approved for trucks and cars. The ongoing litigation pursued by Republican-led states and liquid fuel groups -- which has not yet reached the high court -- could create significant hurdles for future California mobile source programs...

Pending Suits Tee Up New Precedents On Major Aspects Of Reformed TSCA

Courts are poised to decide two cases early in 2024 that could reshape how EPA implements key elements of the reformed TSCA, as industry groups seek limits on the agency's powers to order toxicity testing and regulate new chemical uses. But even those rulings could be just the opening of a wave of landmark legal tests for the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) program, since EPA is poised to enact several major rules including chemical-specific risk management mandates and overhauls...

Biden Officials Face Fierce Environmental Opposition As They Defend CCS

The Biden administration is continuing to defend its support for carbon capture and storage (CCS) part of its multi-pronged climate mitigation strategy, even as it faces mounting pushback from many environmentalists due to concerns about the technology’s safety and efficacy. “We simply cannot get to net zero emissions by midcentury if we do not deploy carbon management at-scale, economy wide, and globally,” argued Energy Department (DOE) carbon management chief Brad Crabtree in a Dec. 15 Politico podcast , citing...

Implementation Worries Mount For EPA's LCRI Pipe Replacement Mandates

A final version of EPA's long-awaited lead and copper rule improvements (LCRI) is still many months away, but environmentalists and utilities are already raising concerns over how the agency will implement its proposed mandates to inventory and eventually replace lead service lines (LSLs), warning of hurdles from costs to disposal methods for the old pipes. EPA proposed the LCRI on Nov. 30 , with a 10-year schedule for replacing LSLs controlled by water systems as well as a host of...

EPA's TSCA Evaluation Push Sets Up Stakeholder Battles On Likely Rules

EPA is ramping up its work on TSCA's risk evaluations of existing chemicals in 2024, with plans to release as many as six final reviews while prioritizing five substances for evaluation – a push that has environmentalists already clamoring for strict rules at the end of that process, and industry preparing its own calls for less-restrictive policies. The agency's December announcement of five new targets for Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) prioritization, and release of a draft risk evaluation for...

Vehicle Rules Loom In 2024, Amid Infrastructure Push And Legal Fights

The first months of 2024 are expected to see a flurry of EPA regulatory activity clamping down on emissions from both passenger vehicles and heavy trucks, even as expected appellate rulings that also could arrive early in the year could have major ramifications for both current and planned rules. Development of EPA’s standards comes as additional work is poised to continue outside of the regulatory sphere on deployment of supporting policies for electric vehicles (EVs) and related charging stations. Such...

Despite Plaintiff Hurdles, Suits Grow Over PFAS In Consumer Products

Litigation over PFAS in consumer goods and food packaging is expected to continue unabated, with industry attorneys saying they anticipate seeing additional suits filed focused on new targets even as plaintiffs sometimes struggle to get past standing and other hurdles. Cases already have been brought against a wide range of products, including food and food packaging, cosmetics, clothing and fabrics and personal care products. The greater the potential for high dollar settlements that would be more lucrative to plaintiffs’ lawyers,...

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