On Thursday, September 12, 2024, Judge Daniel Traynor of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota granted a preliminary injunction sought by North Dakota, Montana, Texas, Wyoming, and Utah (the States) to halt the April 2024 “Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation” rule from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which mandates that oil and gas well operators on federal land flare rather than vent excess methane gas. The April 2024 rule revised a 2016 BLM rule that the District of Wyoming vacated in 2020. The States raised a number of challenges to the April 2024 rule, arguing that it exceeded BLM’s statutory authority under, or violated, the Mineral Leasing Act, Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act, Clean Air Act, and Federal Land Policy and Management Act and was otherwise arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.
https://environmentalenergybrief.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/09/MN-18268-Updated-Environmental-and-Energy-Brief-Blog-OIL-DERRICK-PUMPS-AT-SUNSET.jpg606833Samuel B. Boxermanhttps://goodlifesci.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/03/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.pngSamuel B. Boxerman2024-09-19 09:02:342024-09-18 10:28:10District of North Dakota Halts Bureau of Land Management’s Venting and Flaring Rule
On Tuesday, September 10, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule establishing requirements for major sources of hazardous air pollutants — sources that emit or have the potential to emit 10 tons per year of a single hazardous air pollutant or 25 tons per year of a combination of hazardous air pollutants — that reclassify as area sources below these thresholds. Reversing a rule adopted during the Trump administration, the rule provides that sources emitting any of the seven persistent and bioaccumulative hazardous air pollutants listed under Section 112(c)(6) of the Clean Air Act must continue to comply with major source standards even if otherwise reclassified as area sources. As a result, reclassified sources will still be subject to maximum achievable control technology standards rather than less stringent standards applicable to area sources. In so doing, EPA maintains that at least 90% of the cumulative emissions of these pollutants will be subject to National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) regardless of future source reclassifications.
https://goodlifesci.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/03/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.png00Samuel B. Boxermanhttps://goodlifesci.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/03/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.pngSamuel B. Boxerman2024-09-18 09:38:232024-09-18 10:17:05EPA Issues Final Rule for Major Source Reclassification Under Clean Air Act Section 112
There have been several recent developments in enforcement, litigation, and regulatory implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
https://environmentalenergybrief.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/09/MN-21635_Photo-Request_EnvironmentalEnergy-Blog-2-3.jpg6271200Brittany A. Bolenhttps://goodlifesci.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/03/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.pngBrittany A. Bolen2024-09-13 15:35:012024-09-13 15:35:01Recent Developments in U.S. EPA’s Hydrofluorocarbon Phasedown
On September 6, 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Space Commerce announced that it had selected the first 17 individuals to serve on the inaugural Advisory Committee on Excellence in Space (ACES).
https://goodlifesci.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/03/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.png00Peter Whitfieldhttps://goodlifesci.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/03/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.pngPeter Whitfield2024-09-13 10:52:252024-09-13 12:06:42National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Appoints Members to New Advisory Committee on Space Commerce
On July 9, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) announced a fourth update to its environmental justice (EJ) mapping and screening tool, EJSCREEN, under the Biden administration. EPA describes the tool as “a starting point for agency considerations of environmental justice” and generally uses the tool to identify areas that may have higher environmental burdens and inform several Agency functions, including permitting, enforcement, outreach, and compliance.
On June 27, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court decided SEC v. Jarkesy,[1] holding that when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges a defendant has violated securities antifraud provisions and seeks civil penalties, the defendant is entitled to a jury trial in federal court under the Seventh Amendment. The ruling restricts the SEC’s use of its own in-house administrative tribunal with its own administrative law judges (ALJs), which the SEC has historically used to pursue antifraud claims. While the Court’s ruling focuses on the SEC, the principles underlying the decision may be applied more broadly to restrict the ability of other federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to pursue civil penalties via their own administrative proceedings.
https://goodlifesci.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/03/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.png00Samuel B. Boxermanhttps://goodlifesci.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/03/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.pngSamuel B. Boxerman2024-07-10 10:37:132024-07-10 14:31:54Jarkesy’s Potential Implications for EPA Administrative Proceedings
On Friday, June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Chevron v. NRDC in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.[1] Although the Court’s decision to overturn Chevron was anticipated, Loper Bright nonetheless represents a paradigm shift because the Chevron doctrine had been a cornerstone of administrative law for 40 years.
https://goodlifesci.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/03/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.png00Samuel B. Boxermanhttps://goodlifesci.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/03/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.pngSamuel B. Boxerman2024-07-02 13:26:522024-07-02 15:22:10Environmental Law Implications of Loper Bright and the End of Chevron Deference
On Thursday, in Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that would have required the implementation of additional, significant emissions controls in power plants, pipelines, cement factories, glass factories, iron and steel mills, paper mills, and other industrial facilities across 23 states. The stay provides relief to those industries as they challenge various aspects of the rule in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit — challenges on which the Supreme Court found the states and industries were likely to succeed.
https://environmentalenergybrief.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/06/AdobeStock_102707391.jpg400600Samuel B. Boxermanhttps://goodlifesci.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/03/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.pngSamuel B. Boxerman2024-06-28 11:37:302024-06-28 11:37:30U.S. Supreme Court Stays EPA Ozone Interstate Transport Rule
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District of North Dakota Halts Bureau of Land Management’s Venting and Flaring Rule
On Thursday, September 12, 2024, Judge Daniel Traynor of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota granted a preliminary injunction sought by North Dakota, Montana, Texas, Wyoming, and Utah (the States) to halt the April 2024 “Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation” rule from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which mandates that oil and gas well operators on federal land flare rather than vent excess methane gas. The April 2024 rule revised a 2016 BLM rule that the District of Wyoming vacated in 2020. The States raised a number of challenges to the April 2024 rule, arguing that it exceeded BLM’s statutory authority under, or violated, the Mineral Leasing Act, Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act, Clean Air Act, and Federal Land Policy and Management Act and was otherwise arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.
(more…)
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Jim Wedeking
Washington, D.C.
jwedeking@sidley.com
Aaron L. Flyer
Washington, D.C.
aflyer@sidley.com
EPA Issues Final Rule for Major Source Reclassification Under Clean Air Act Section 112
On Tuesday, September 10, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule establishing requirements for major sources of hazardous air pollutants — sources that emit or have the potential to emit 10 tons per year of a single hazardous air pollutant or 25 tons per year of a combination of hazardous air pollutants — that reclassify as area sources below these thresholds. Reversing a rule adopted during the Trump administration, the rule provides that sources emitting any of the seven persistent and bioaccumulative hazardous air pollutants listed under Section 112(c)(6) of the Clean Air Act must continue to comply with major source standards even if otherwise reclassified as area sources. As a result, reclassified sources will still be subject to maximum achievable control technology standards rather than less stringent standards applicable to area sources. In so doing, EPA maintains that at least 90% of the cumulative emissions of these pollutants will be subject to National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) regardless of future source reclassifications.
(more…)
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Jim Wedeking
Washington, D.C.
jwedeking@sidley.com
Aaron L. Flyer
Washington, D.C.
aflyer@sidley.com
Recent Developments in U.S. EPA’s Hydrofluorocarbon Phasedown
There have been several recent developments in enforcement, litigation, and regulatory implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
(more…)
Brittany A. Bolen
Washington, D.C.
bbolen@sidley.com
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Sophia E. Wallach
Century City
swallach@sidley.com
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Appoints Members to New Advisory Committee on Space Commerce
On September 6, 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Space Commerce announced that it had selected the first 17 individuals to serve on the inaugural Advisory Committee on Excellence in Space (ACES).
(more…)
Peter Whitfield
Washington, D.C.
pwhitfield@sidley.com
Sophia E. Wallach
Century City
swallach@sidley.com
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
U.S. EPA Announces Fourth Update to Environmental Justice Mapping Tool: EJSCREEN 2.3
On July 9, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) announced a fourth update to its environmental justice (EJ) mapping and screening tool, EJSCREEN, under the Biden administration. EPA describes the tool as “a starting point for agency considerations of environmental justice” and generally uses the tool to identify areas that may have higher environmental burdens and inform several Agency functions, including permitting, enforcement, outreach, and compliance.
(more…)
Nicole E. Noëlliste
Washington, D.C.
nnoelliste@sidley.com
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Sophia E. Wallach
Century City
swallach@sidley.com
Jarkesy’s Potential Implications for EPA Administrative Proceedings
On June 27, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court decided SEC v. Jarkesy,[1] holding that when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges a defendant has violated securities antifraud provisions and seeks civil penalties, the defendant is entitled to a jury trial in federal court under the Seventh Amendment. The ruling restricts the SEC’s use of its own in-house administrative tribunal with its own administrative law judges (ALJs), which the SEC has historically used to pursue antifraud claims. While the Court’s ruling focuses on the SEC, the principles underlying the decision may be applied more broadly to restrict the ability of other federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to pursue civil penalties via their own administrative proceedings.
(more…)
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Jack Raffetto
Washington, D.C.
jraffetto@sidley.com
Timothy K. Webster
Washington, D.C.
twebster@sidley.com
Lauren E. DeCarlo
Chicago
lauren.decarlo@sidley.com
Environmental Law Implications of Loper Bright and the End of Chevron Deference
On Friday, June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Chevron v. NRDC in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.[1] Although the Court’s decision to overturn Chevron was anticipated, Loper Bright nonetheless represents a paradigm shift because the Chevron doctrine had been a cornerstone of administrative law for 40 years.
(more…)
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Jack Raffetto
Washington, D.C.
jraffetto@sidley.com
Timothy K. Webster
Washington, D.C.
twebster@sidley.com
Jim Wedeking
Washington, D.C.
jwedeking@sidley.com
Riley Desper
Washington, D.C.
rdesper@sidley.com
U.S. Supreme Court Stays EPA Ozone Interstate Transport Rule
On Thursday, in Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that would have required the implementation of additional, significant emissions controls in power plants, pipelines, cement factories, glass factories, iron and steel mills, paper mills, and other industrial facilities across 23 states. The stay provides relief to those industries as they challenge various aspects of the rule in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit — challenges on which the Supreme Court found the states and industries were likely to succeed.
(more…)
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Eric D. McArthur
Washington, D.C.
emcarthur@sidley.com
Jeremy Rozansky
Washington, D.C.
jrozansky@sidley.com
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