On June 28, a coalition of 11 environmental groups petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Clean Air Act to address the alleged failure of Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to comply with and properly implement public participation and environmental justice requirements in its air permitting program. Specifically, the petition alleges that TCEQ violates the Clean Air Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by: (1) restricting public participation in air permitting by limiting judicial review of permits; (2) allowing applicants to withhold public information during the permitting process; and (3) allowing facilities to operate under the state’s permits by rule (PBR) program, which provides no meaningful opportunity for public participation.
US EPA’S Draft Screening Level Approach May Broaden Scope of Chemical Risk Evaluations Under TSCA
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) continues to advance various aspects of its chemicals regulatory agenda under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). A key part of the Biden Administration’s revisions to the TSCA program is its planned new screening approach for assessing ambient air and water exposures to fenceline communities. This screening approach is intended to broaden the scope of chemical risk evaluations to include exposures to fenceline communities from air emissions and water discharges of chemicals undergoing risk evaluation.
Is Momentum Building To Change the Way We Manage Plastic?
There has been a reasonable amount of recent activity related to management (or lack thereof) of plastic waste. Two more developments this month have me wondering whether we might be near the proverbial tipping point in our approach to managing plastics.
First, California enacted a fairly sweeping statute, S.B. 54, that will impose extended
US Supreme Court Limits EPA’s Authority to Regulate Carbon Emissions from Existing Power Plants Under Major Questions Doctrine with Implications for Agency Rulemaking Generally
On June 30, 2022, the US Supreme Court held that the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP) “[c]apping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that [would] force” energy generation shifting from coal to natural gas to renewables nationwide was not within the statutory authority that Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), codified as 42
PFAS and Real Estate Transactions: Key Considerations in 2022
Before the 2010s, many real estate deals closed without the mere mention of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as part of negotiations or in diligence. Leap forward a decade to 2022 and diligence questions relating to the presence of PFAS on real estate are essentially market, especially for industrial and some commercial properties. The paradigm shift cannot be attributed solely to one force; instead, a culmination of regulatory, statutory, judicial, and transactional considerations have elevated PFAS to an issue that could seriously impede or even kill a deal.
Whether involved as a seller, buyer, lender, or another interested party concerned about the liabilities, there are several key considerations, among others, that parties to real estate transactions should be aware of in 2022.
Vietnam’s Direct PPA Pilot Scheme
Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) on 20 May 2022 released a revised draft decision on the proposed direct power purchase agreement (DPPA) pilot scheme for stakeholder consultation (May 2022 Draft Decision). Vietnam is seeking to implement a DPPA pilot scheme which, for the first time, will enable renewable energy generators to sell clean electricity
Hydrogen in Australia – The States of Play
In May we published a legal update on the recent Australian federal election (here) and what a new Labor government may mean for the renewables industry in Australia. The note highlighted that no specific legislation was planned for hydrogen.
Australia’s states have been more active in trying to jump on the hydrogen bandwagon.
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of July 11, 2022
Oil and Gas Regulation: PA General Assembly Passes Well Plugging Bill
On July 7, 2022, the Pennsylvania Senate and House both passed HB 2644. The bill would establish and allocate funds to the Orphan Well Plugging Grant Program (Program). Funding through this program would be used to receive and approve applications, provide civil liability
EPA Power Plant Ruling Could Have Broader Effects for Industry
Below is an excerpt of an article co-authored with Jon Schaefer and published in Industry Week on July 8, 2022. Jon focuses his practice on environmental compliance counseling, occupational health and safety, permitting, site remediation, and litigation related to federal and state regulatory programs.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision that the Environmental
Emerging EU ESG Requirements: Transatlantic Implications for Multinational Companies
We have written extensively on the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposal to require that public companies disclose climate-related information and other environment, social, and corporate governance (ESG) trends. However, the European Union (EU) is at the vanguard of emerging requirements focused on climate-related information and broader ESG-aligned information.