In a landmark ruling signaling a new lens with which to view the treatment of interstate water allocation, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on November 22 in Mississippi v. Tennessee, et al., 595 U.S. ___ (Case No. 21o143) rejecting Mississippi’s claim to sole ownership of waters of the Middle Claiborne Aquifer within that
Environmental Law & Policy Monitor
Analysis and commentary on developments in environmental and natural resources law
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Natural Gas Processors to Report to EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory Beginning 2023
In a final rule published in the Federal Register on November 24, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) quietly finalized a hotly contested proposed rule, adding natural gas processing facilities to the list of industry sectors required to report their releases of certain chemicals under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA),…
EPA Issues Highly Anticipated Methane Rule for the Oil and Gas Sector
Earlier this week, EPA published its proposed new methane regulations for the oil and gas sector. These new rules will have significant practical implications for the industry and have the potential to set new precedent for EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to address climate change for other industries as well. While the proposal…
Supreme Court Will Hear Controversy Over EPA Regulation of Greenhouse Gases from Existing Power Plants
The U.S. Supreme Court has elected to hear a legal dispute over the scope of the authority granted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing power plants. In orders issued October 29, the Court granted certiorari to four petitioners — West Virginia, North…
Infrastructure Bill Provides Opportunities for Hydroelectric Industry
On November 5, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the more than $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the bipartisan infrastructure framework (BIF). The Senate had already approved the bill back in August, and it now heads to the president’s desk for signature. The BIF represents a core piece of…
Army Corps Halts Coverage Under Nationwide Permits
Landowners and permit applicants received an email notification this week that the Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) would not be processing their requests for coverage under a variety of Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 Nationwide Permits (NWPs). NWPs are general permits that authorize activities under Clean Water Act Section 404 that “will cause…
Biden EPA Decides to Keep a Trump EPA NSR Rule … For Now
The Biden EPA just did something unexpected — it decided to keep a Trump EPA rule, at least for the time being. The rule, known as “project emissions accounting” under the “New Source Review” (NSR) air permitting program, allows sources of air emissions to avoid permitting by using emission decreases to offset an increase that…
EPA Announces New “Strategic Roadmap” for PFAS
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new “Strategic Roadmap (Roadmap),” describing a suite of ongoing and future agency actions to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). While many of these actions were previously presented in EPA’s 2019 PFAS Action Plan, or in more recent announcements, the Roadmap provides additional…
Penalizing Unavoidable Air Emissions: The Fight Over SSM Continues
At the end of September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued yet another memorandum regarding emissions resulting from startup, shutdown, and malfunctions (SSM) at stationary sources of air pollutants, such as refineries, manufacturing facilities, and power plants. This newest memo announces a return to the policy EPA announced in 2015, when it asked 45 states…
DC Circuit Directs FERC to Consider Environmental Impacts of LNG Facilities
In an August 3 opinion in the case of Vecinos para el Bienestar de la Comunidad Costera et al. v. FERC, Case No. 20-1093, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit determined that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) failed to adequately review the impacts of two proposed liquefied…