On September 23, 2021, the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) approved a final form rulemaking that revises the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (PADEP) regulations that implement that Land Recycling and Environmental Remediation Standards Act (Act 2).
As we discussed in a previous post, this regulatory revision includes the following new groundwater
On October 4, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a revision of its interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). With the final rule, FWS has effectively reinstated its position that “incidental take” — the harming or killing that results from, but is not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful activity — is prohibited by the MBTA, and persons that cause incidental take can be prosecuted criminally. FWS’s final rule represents a reversal of a Trump-era interpretation of the MBTA, which narrowly interpreted liability under the statute to apply only to those actions specifically “directed at” migratory birds that “reduce animals to human control.” See previous post covering the prior rule.
Relying on a 2018 decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, a Pennsylvania district court reaffirmed that Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) claims against a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)-regulated pipeline must be made initially to FERC. Adorers of the Blood of Christ v. Transco. Gas Pipe Line Co.
In August 2021, the First District Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Pacific Merchant Shipping Association v. Newsom, where the court held that Public Resources Code section 21168.6.7 does not impose on the Governor a deadline by which to certify construction of a new baseball park and mixed-use development project at the Howard Terminal site in the City of Oakland (“Project”).
On October 4, 2021, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS or the Service) published a final rule revoking its January 7, 2021, Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA or Act) rule. 86 Fed. Reg. 54,642 (Oct. 4, 2021) (Rule or Revocation Rule). The January 7 rule was issued at the end of the Trump administration and established that the MBTA does not prohibit incidental (unintentional) take of migratory birds. 86 Fed. Reg. 1134 (Jan. 7, 2021). In the preamble to the Rule, which lists an effective date of December 3, 2021, the Service explained that “[t]he immediate effect of this final rule is to return to implementing the MBTA as prohibiting incidental take and applying enforcement discretion, consistent with judicial precedent and longstanding agency practice prior to 2017.” 86 Fed. Reg. at 54,642. On the same day it published the Revocation Rule, FWS also published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), requesting public input that will be used to develop proposed regulations to authorize the incidental take of migratory birds under prescribed conditions, 86 Fed. Reg. 54,667 (Oct. 4, 2021), and issued a Director’s Order clarifying the Service’s current enforcement position.
The Biden administration has highlighted Tribal sovereignty and the federal trust responsibility to Tribal Nations as the cornerstones of its federal Indian policy. The involvement of Native American tribes is also a component of the Biden administration’s environmental justice initiatives. Accordingly, on January 26, the Biden administration issued a “Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and
On May 26, the Senate Finance Committee voted to advance legislation that would amend certain energy tax provisions in an effort to combat climate change, curtail greenhouse gas emissions, and create jobs. The bill, known as the Clean Energy for America Act, would provide an “emissions-based, technology-neutral tax credit” for facilities with zero or net
An Arizona federal court has vacated the Trump Administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR). In the case of Pasqua Yaqui Tribe v. EPA, No. CV-20-00266 , the Court ruled that the Trump Administration’s regulatory effort to define the scope of the Clean Water Act (i.e. which rivers, streams and lakes are federally regulated) had “fundamental,
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. In this case, one man’s solid waste, commercial and industrial waste, biomass, plastics, tires, and organic contaminants are another man’s energy, fuel, and commodity chemicals thanks to waste conversion technologies generally known as pyrolysis and gasification. For years, these waste conversion technologies have been regulated under a patchwork of ill-fitting Clean Air Act (CAA) regulations and remain at relatively low levels of commercial adoption. Now that may be changing.
On September 8, the US EPA announced an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) to “assist in the potential development of regulations for pyrolysis and gasification units,” which, many hope, represents the first step in standardizing and clarifying regulations for these technologies. In addition, last August EPA issued a proposed rule for Other Solid Waste Incineration (OSWI) plants which would simplify pyrolysis regulations by removing the reference to pyrolysis from the definition of “municipal waste combustion unit.” In the ANPRM, EPA states that it would issue the final OSWI Rule by October 31.
