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Cross State Air Pollution Rule is Overturned by Court
Four years after overturning a major Environmental Protection Agency air pollution rule as inconsistent with the Clean Air Act, this week the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the program that EPA had tailored to take its place, ruling that the replacement rule “exceeds the agency’s statutory authority” and imposes “impossible” burdens upon covered states.…
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D.C. Circuit Hears Challenges to EPA Climate Regulations
On February 28 and 29, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a series of challenges to the [EPA’s] regulation of [GHGs] under the Clean Air Act, far-reaching litigation spanning dozens of parties and at least four separate rules. Decisions from the panel of Judges David Sentelle, David Tatel and Janice Rogers…
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Tidal Power Plant in East River Nears Federal Approval
The nation’s first tidal energy power plant may take shape in New York’s East River, under a pilot project recommended for approval last month by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”). In December 2010, Verdant Power applied for a license to install 30 underwater turbines between Roosevelt Island and Queens, which would enable tidal power…
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EPA Postpones GHG Reporting Deadline
On March 1, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced its plans to postpone the upcoming deadline for mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions, which is currently scheduled for the end of this month. EPA has not set a revised deadline, though the agency reported that it “is in the process of finalizing a…
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EPA Considers Adding Vapor Intrusion Pathway to Superfund Ranking System
For over two decades, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has considered four exposure pathways in determining whether to list contaminated sites on the Superfund National Priorities List (“NPL”): groundwater, surface water, soil and air. In a Federal Register notice published January 31, 2011, EPA solicited public comment on the potential addition of a fifth pathway:…
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Court Denies Stay of EPA Climate Rules
EPA can enforce its climate change regulations while litigation challenging those regulations is pending, a federal appeals court ruled last Friday. The denial of a motion to stay the implementation of EPA’s rules removed one of the final barriers to implementation of the Agency’s first-ever stationary source greenhouse gas (“GHG”) limits, which are scheduled to…
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Supreme Court Grants Review in Key Climate Change Lawsuit
On December 6, the Supreme Court granted review of the climate change climate tort suit Connecticut v. American Electric Power (“AEP”), setting the stage for a major decision on the availability of common law remedies for climate-related harms. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who presided over oral arguments in the case while a judge on the Second…
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Gov. Paterson Proposes Eliminating New York Participation in Federal Superfund Program
In a radio interview last week, outgoing New York Governor David Paterson announced his plans to eliminate the state’s participation in the federal Superfund cleanup program. The proposal is one of several cuts designed to reduce the state’s budget deficit and accommodate the proposed layoffs of an additional 898 state employees by the year’s end,…