by Patrick J. Paul On February 21, 2023, less than three weeks after a Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, less than a mile from the Pennsylvania border, EPA issued a 77 page Unilateral Order to the company requiring it to remediate the chemicals spilled. EPA had previously sent the railroad a letter […]
by Amanda Reeve The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) announced on January 6, 2023, that it is proposing to modify the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5). The current annual primary (health-based) NAAQS for PM2.5 is set at 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3); but it could soon […]
by Michael C. Ford In 2015, EPA published a rule under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) targeting coal-fired electricity generators designed to force their shift from coal generation to gas, solar and wind production. The “Clean Power Plan” (“CPP”) rule was projected to reduce the reliance on coal for electricity generation from 38% (2014) to […]
by Patrick J. Paul On February 16, 2022, less than a week after nine Phoenix police officers were injured in a fatal standoff in South Phoenix, the City Council by a 6-3 vote, approved more than $500,000 in expenditures on behalf of the Phoenix Police Department to purchase drones and to develop a program to […]
by Amanda A. Reeve On February 7, 2022, Sierra Club, et al. filed a Notice of Intent to File Suit (“NOI”) over the Unites States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“USEPA”) supposed failure to perform its duties under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) to timely “make statutory completeness determinations and findings of failure to submit Regional Haze […]
by Patrick J. Paul On January 19, 2021, the last full day of President Trump’s tenure at the White House, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals essentially said “good riddance” to Trump’s “ACE” (the Affordable Clean Energy Rule) in American Lung Association v. EPA, No. 19-1140 (D.C. Cir. 2021). More to the point, the D.C. […]
by Luke Narducci, Mike Ford, and Amanda Reeve On January 9, 2020, the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest (“ACLIPI”), on behalf of several individuals, filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (“Court”) a Petition for Review (“Petition”) of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) determination of attainment for the 2008 Ozone […]
by Lucas J. Narducci & Amanda A. Reeve We all have been waiting to see what new course or approach will be taken by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“USEPA”) in regard to environmental justice. Rather than a major new program or enforcement initiative, the recent declaration from USEPA in this area provides clarity and […]
by Amanda A. Reeve The Arizona’s First Regular Session of the 55th Legislature has been moving along at a pretty fast and steady pace. A total of 40 bills have already been sent to the Governor’s desk; and 32 of those have been signed into law with the remaining eight bills under consideration. These bills […]
by Sean M. Sherlock The South Coast Air Quality Management District (“SCAQMD”) is pursuing a new rule to regulate distribution warehouses. The SCAQMD’s focus is not on emissions generated by the warehouses or their equipment. Rather, its focus is on emissions from the trucks that make deliveries and pickups at these facilities. Proposed Rule 2305 […]
