TRACKING CLIMATE AGENDA

EPA Sends Combined GHG Finding, Vehicle Rule Rollbacks To OMB

EPA has sent to the White House for final review a proposed rule walking back the landmark GHG endangerment finding and vehicle emissions standards -- confirming expectations that the agency would combine its endangerment finding reconsideration with a vehicle rule repeal even as the regulation’s exact scope remains unclear. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) received the proposal, titled “Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding and Motor Vehicle Reconsideration Rule,” on June 30. EPA’s planned rollback of the greenhouse gas endangerment...

OMB Begins Review Of EPA Plan To Reconsider GHG Reporting Program

The White House has begun reviewing EPA’s proposed rule to reconsider and potentially repeal its greenhouse gas reporting program that has collected emissions data on over 8,000 facilities since 2009, an effort that some have warned could face statutory hurdles given congressional mandates to develop such rules. The White House Office of Management and Budget received the proposal , titled “Reconsideration of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program” on June 27. Such reviews usually take 90 days but can be faster...

Senate Takes Up New Attacks On Clean Energy As Budget Bill Nears Passage

The Senate is pushing to approve by as soon as June 30 its budget reconciliation bill that scuttles numerous Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) environmental grants and clean energy incentives -- after spurning draft language to soften some tax credit cuts -- setting up potential House enactment by July 4 despite harsh criticism from the clean energy sector. “We are slashing Biden’s Green New Deal spending and promoting America-First energy,” said Senate Finance Committee chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) in a June...

States Charge DOE Coal Plant Order Relies On ‘Undependable’ Reports

Midwestern states are joining numerous groups arguing the Energy Department (DOE) unlawfully invoked emergency authority to require a coal plant in Michigan to stay online, asserting officials relied on “undependable” grid reliability forecasts from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The arguments challenge DOE’s use of a key Federal Power Act (FPA) provision that Trump officials hope will help stave off many coal plant retirements. Republicans also more broadly cite NERC’s warnings to justify support for gas- and coal-fired...

Powell Says Federal Reserve Might Not Play ‘Any Role’ On Climate Change

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says the central bank will not try to play “any role” on climate change issues, while defending the agency’s limited steps on the topic during the Biden era as the “bare minimum,” including climate risk guidance that he said officials might rescind. “It is a big risk to our independence if we were to stray into areas where we shouldn’t, that really aren’t part of our mandate, and I would agree that climate is the...

GOP Reconciliation Bill Could Effectively Scrap Fuel Economy Mandates

Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee are retaining a proposal to eliminate financial penalties for automakers not meeting fuel economy standards, a move that one industry source says would effectively render the requirements moot for the auto sector and might even relieve companies of violations retroactively. The committee’s decision to keep the language in the latest draft for its portion of the GOP’s reconciliation package comes even as environment committee lawmakers were forced to drop a separate proposal to scuttle...

House GOP Advances Bill Allowing FERC To Block EPA Power Plant Rules

House Republicans are advancing legislation that would allow federal energy regulators to block EPA rules they view as hampering power generation, as the lawmakers promote a series of proposals that aim to retain traditional power sources and shield gas and coal plants from emissions limits. Under H.R. 3616 , which the House Energy & Commerce Committee approved 28-23 during a June 25 markup, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would have authority to oversee EPA and other agencies’ rules affecting...

Senate Rules Chief Blocks Fast Track For GOP Fossil Fuel Measures

The Senate parliamentarian has determined that multiple natural resource-related provisions of Senate Republicans’ pending budget reconciliation bill, including several that encourage fossil fuel development, are ineligible for fast-track consideration and thus might be ultimately removed from the package. The parliamentarian’s findings were announced by Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee in a June 23 release , adding to the list of measures that violate the Senate’s “Byrd rule” that determines which elements can be included in reconciliation legislation passed with...

Lawyers Argue DOE Proposals To Rescind Efficiency Rules Violate APA

A progressive think tank is arguing Energy Department (DOE) proposals to repeal appliance energy conservation standards violate numerous Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requirements, due to the measures’ thin substantive rationale and insufficient public comment. The Trump administration has “broken from the longstanding -- and legally-mandated -- practice of providing a detailed proposal, instead issuing brief proposals containing little or no information about the agency’s rationale for exercising its discretion,” New York University law school’s Institute for Policy Integrity (IPI) lawyers...

Senate’s Foreign Sourcing Test For IRA Credits Draws Cautious Praise

The Senate Finance Committee’s reconciliation draft is drawing some cautious praise from clean energy backers because they view its proposed foreign entity-based sourcing restrictions for clean energy incentives as less onerous than strict language in the House-passed bill that broadly targets the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) credits. But observers still say it is not clear if the Senate provisions -- which bar the use of prohibited materials above certain project cost thresholds -- will be enough to assuage developers’ concerns...

Senate Parliamentarian Finds EPA Auto Repeal Ineligible For Budget Bill

Senate Democrats are stating that the chamber’s parliamentarian has determined that a proposal to rescind the Biden EPA’s multi-pollutant standards for passenger vehicles is ineligible for fast-track passage via Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill, a finding that could force Trump officials to engage in a complicated process to repeal the rule. The Capitol Hill maneuvering -- which for now leaves the legislative proposal to repeal EPA’s rule in limbo -- comes as industry sources say agency leadership appears to be leaning...

DOE Revives Coal Council That Faced Prior Environmentalist Criticism

The Energy Department (DOE) has formally re-established the controversial National Coal Council (NCC) that advises department officials about policies related to coal, despite efforts by the Biden administration to “modernize” the panel following attacks from environmental groups that it served as a non-transparent venue to advance coal interests. A June 16 charter and accompanying Federal Register notice say DOE is re-establishing the NCC in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The Biden DOE initially let the charter...

Senate Draft Eases House IRA Attacks, Despite Tight Renewables Limits

The Senate Finance Committee’s draft reconciliation bill would somewhat ease a House bill’s sharp rollback of numerous low-carbon energy tax credits, observers say, with lawmakers maintaining tight limits on credits for wind and solar and electric vehicles (EVs) even as they propose a gentler approach for “baseload” power projects. However, observers are raising questions about whether the clean energy sector can defend the Senate’s more generous provisions on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) credits, amid calls from some Republican lawmakers...

Senate Finance Panel Floats Major Rollbacks To IRA Clean Energy Credits

Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee in their just-released draft budget reconciliation bill are somewhat softening the House-passed attack on Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits for clean electricity, but they would still heavily modify or quickly end numerous incentives. The June 16 release of the draft bill signals Senate GOP efforts to advance the broader tax and policy package with GOP leaders pressing for Senate floor action before the July 4 break. The bill, accompanied by a section-by-section summary...

Critics Blast Utility GHG Plan With Costs Over Six Times Higher Than Benefits

Even as the Trump administration is touting compliance cost savings from its plan to revoke all power plant greenhouse gas standards, the agency is acknowledging that those savings would be swamped by foregone public health benefits that the standards would otherwise spur. Specifically, EPA’s regulation impact analysis (RIA) for the June 11 proposal says it would save industry $19 billion in compliance costs, but that it would cost $130 billion in lost public health benefits from reductions in conventional pollution...

EPA Floats ‘Poorly Reasoned’ Claims On GHG ‘Significance,’ Observers Say

Observers are faulting EPA’s legal arguments supporting its claim that power plants’ greenhouse gas emissions do not “significantly contribute” to public health harms, arguing the agency’s proposal on the issue is “poorly reasoned” and conflicts with the Supreme Court’s recent administrative law decisions. In its June 11 proposed rule , EPA argued that the agency can consider costs and administration policy priorities when determining if a sector’s emissions “significantly” affect such harms and thus must be regulated under section 111...

Former GOP FERC Chair Fears Trump Could Gut FERC’s Independent Role

Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Neil Chatterjee (R) is raising concern that the Trump administration’s decision to not retain current Chairman Mark Christie (R) signals a bid to undo FERC’s independent role and turn it into “staffers for the administration.” He said such a move threatens stability at an agency that sets numerous policies related to markets for clean and other energy sources. Chatterjee, who served twice as FERC chair during the first Trump administration, said June 10...

Industry Attacks Proposal To Exempt California GHG Rules From Analysis

Numerous industry groups are attacking California lawmakers’ surprise budget proposal to skip key environmental- and economic-impact analyses for the state air board’s rules to implement two landmark 2023 laws requiring large companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks. “It’s very interesting that these [laws], which were presented as being about transparency and accountability, are now being exempted from statutes that squarely address transparency and accountability,” said Jon Kendrick, a lobbyist for the California Chamber of Commerce, during...

Democrats Press GOP To Ease Clean Energy Cuts Or Pay Political Price

Democrats are seeking to impose electoral consequences for Republican lawmakers if they do not significantly soften proposed attacks on Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) clean energy tax credits, as they ramp up near-term pressure for the Senate to scale back a House bill that would quickly end or impose new restrictions on the incentives. “What I can guarantee you is that in the next election, and the next election after that, Republicans are going to own increased energy prices,” Sen. Martin...

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. ,...

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