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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...

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...

Georgia Plaintiffs Seek To Consolidate PFAS Suits Amid Judge’s Doubts

Georgia citizens and environmentalists are urging a federal district court to consolidate their respective PFAS contamination suits against utility and industry defendants, arguing that their cases are largely similar and consolidation would save judicial resources, but the judge has previously signaled her skepticism at such efforts. The pair of suits , pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, test whether the Superfund law or the Clean Water Act (CWA) should govern the cleanup of land...

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...

Michigan Airport Makes Second Bid To Move PFAS Suit To Federal Court

A Michigan airport is again urging a federal appeals court to reverse a lower court ruling and allow Michigan’s landmark enforcement case seeking cleanup from a commercial airport for PFAS releases to go forward in federal rather than state court, an issue the Supreme Court is also weighing in a separate suit. The Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority (GFIAA) late last month asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit to consider whether it meets requirements under...

Judge Pauses CERCLA Cost Recovery Cases In AFFF MDL, Citing Shutdown

The judge overseeing multidistrict litigation (MDL) governing PFAS firefighting foam contamination has granted the United States’ request to stay 22 Superfund cases brought against it by local governments until the federal shutdown ends and the Justice Department’s (DOJ) funding is resumed. Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina Oct. 31 granted a motion by the U.S. government to stay action in the cases due to the lapse in funding for DOJ that began...

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...

Group Disputes Chemours’ Charge Of Broad Impact From PFAS Injunction

Environmentalists are urging the 4th Circuit to preserve a lower court injunction that requires chemical manufacturer Chemours to comply with its PFAS permit limits when discharging into the Ohio River, pushing back on the defendants’ argument that the Clean Water Act (CWA) allows plaintiffs to obtain injunctive relief automatically for every violation. “Chemours insists that the district court improperly assumed that a CWA permit violation automatically establishes sufficient harm for standing,” West Virginia Rivers Coalition (WVRC) says in an Oct...

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...

Environmentalists Warn AI, NAMs Could Undercut TSCA Assessments

As EPA ramps up its use of artificial intelligence (AI) and new approach methods (NAMs) in TSCA reviews, environmentalists are warning that such methods could undercut protective risk evaluations and are urging the agency to rely on its children’s health office and advisors to continue to guide the use of such methods. In comments submitted to EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC) earlier this year, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other groups raised concerns about EPA’s plan...

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...

OCSPP Integrates 170 ORD Scientists In ‘Final’ Reorganization, Deklava Says

EPA’s reorganization of the chemicals office has gone “final,” a top official says, resulting in the integration of more than 170 scientists from the research office who are expected to bolster the office’s efforts to clear a backlog of TSCA new chemical reviews as well as other Trump administration priorities for the office. The Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention’s (OCSPP) “reorganization was final on Sunday [Oct. 19]. I’m pretty excited about that,” Lynn Dekleva, deputy assistant administrator of...

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...

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,”...

Key Senate EPW Members Hint At Priorities For Bipartisan TSCA Talks

The chair and ranking member of the Senate environment committee’s chemicals panel are signaling a desire to work together to address concerns about consumer exposure to PFAS and other harmful chemicals in any TSCA reform push, though prospects for any legislation remain dim given partisan differences and other concerns. During the Oct. 23 hearing before the environment committee’s Subcommittee on Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the ranking member, asked Tracey Woodruff, a...

PFAS Face Uncertain Prospects In EPA Plan To Prioritize AI Chemical Reviews

Despite the Trump EPA’s announcement that it would prioritize TSCA reviews for new chemicals related to artificial intelligence (AI) and data center projects, questions remain about whether more PFAS, particularly fluoropolymers that are often used in semiconductor production, would benefit from the new prioritization. “What we don’t know is what new chemicals there are,” Lenny Siegel, a member of CHIPS Communities United, a coalition of unions, environmentalists and community groups seeking a responsible and equitable semiconductor industry, told Inside PFAS...

Lawmakers Urge DOD To Revert To Faster 2024 PFAS Cleanup Schedule

Dozens of House lawmakers are urging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to discard an updated timetable that would delay PFAS cleanups at 140 sites and instead commit to a faster schedule as reflected in a 2024 plan, while questioning the top Pentagon official on the reason behind the slowdown and the lack of transparency over the changes. In an Oct. 22 letter to Hegseth, 36 House members also press DOD to speed cleanups at sites where investigations should have already taken...

Newsom Veto Triggers Debate Over How To Regulate Products With PFAS

Industry and environmental groups are at odds over how to regulate PFAS in products after California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed a bill banning the chemicals from cookware and several other product categories, with industry arguing the state’s green chemistry program should lead the way while environmentalists strongly disagree. “Let’s be clear: the Department of Toxic Substances Control [DTSC] first needs to execute the risk-categorization process that has been in statute since 2008 instead of creating further uncertainty with one-off...

Shutdown Appears To Have Little Effect On EPA GHG Endangerment Plan

EPA is reiterating its goal of finalizing a rollback of its greenhouse gas endangerment finding and associated vehicle GHG limits by the end of this year, as multiple sources say there is little evidence that the rulemaking has been delayed yet by the ongoing government shutdown. “The agency aims to finalize the rulemaking before the end of the year,” the agency’s press office said in an Oct. 21 statement to Inside EPA ’s Climate Extra . While uncertainty persists about...

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