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Environmental and Energy Brief
Perspectives for the Environmental and Energy Community
EPA Issues Toxic Substances Control Act Significant New Use Rules for Certain Chemical Substances Used in Chemical Manufacturing and Petroleum Refining
On Thursday, September 29, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for chemical substances that are the subject of premanufacture notices and associated TSCA orders prohibiting manufacturers from undertaking significant new uses. (more…)
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Aaron L. Flyer
U.S. EPA Establishes New Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights
On September 24, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the establishment of a new national program office, the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, which will span all 10 EPA regions and be supported by more than 200 staff. The new office will be led by a U.S. Senate-confirmed Assistant Administrator, who will be announced at a later date. According to the EPA, the new office will address environmental justice matters by providing grants and technical assistance, enforcing federal civil rights laws, developing and implementing environmental laws, regulations, and policies, and providing support in alternative dispute resolution.
(more…)
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Nicole E. Noëlliste
Washington, D.C.
nnoelliste@sidley.com
Rose Quam-Wickham
Washington, D.C.
rquamwickham@sidley.com
U.S. FERC Proposes Revisions to Cybersecurity Incentives for Utilities
On September 22, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) regarding Incentives for Advanced Cybersecurity Investment, requesting comment on proposed revisions to regulations implementing the Federal Power Act (FPA). The revisions would provide incentive-based rate treatments for the transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce and the sale of electric energy at wholesale in interstate commerce by utilities for certain voluntary cybersecurity investments. The NOPR was issued in response to a Congressional mandate set forth in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which directed FERC to establish cybersecurity incentives that would encourage investments by utilities in advanced cybersecurity technology and participation in cybersecurity threat information sharing programs. This NOPR replaces a prior cybersecurity incentives NOPR from December 2020.
(more…)
Emily P. Mallen
Colleen Theresa Brown
Washington, D.C.
cbrown@sidley.com
Alice A. Wang
Marissa Prieto
U.S. FERC Issues Two Orders Clarifying the Scope of its Natural Gas Act Jurisdiction
On September 22, 2022, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) denied two separate complaints against natural gas pipelines located entirely within one state that turned on whether FERC had jurisdiction over the facilities under the Natural Gas Act (NGA). (more…)
Grace Dickson Gerbas
Dallas
gdicksongerbas@sidley.com
Emily P. Mallen
United States Ratifies the Montreal Protocol’s Kigali Amendment Six Years After Amendment’s Introduction
On September 21, 2022, the U.S. Senate voted to ratify the Kigali Amendment, an amendment to the Montreal Protocol that addresses hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), six years after the Kigali Amendment was officially adopted at the 28th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on October 15, 2016, in Kigali, Rwanda. While the Montreal Protocol originally sought only to phase out the consumption and production of ozone-depleting substances chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons, the Kigali Amendment established plans to reduce the production and consumption of HFCs — greenhouse gases with high global warming potential — by more than 80% over the next few decades. (more…)
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Rose Quam-Wickham
Washington, D.C.
rquamwickham@sidley.com
EPA Releases Draft Environmental Justice Plan
On January 5, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a draft Environmental Justice Action Plan. The Action Plan outlines measures that have been or will be implemented by EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) to address environmental justice (EJ) concerns in OLEM programs, including Superfund, emergency response, and risk management. (more…)
Hannah Posen
Chicago
hposen@sidley.com
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
EPA Rescinds Trump-Era Civil Inspection Rule
On Thursday, December 30, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule rescinding a Trump-era rule that changed EPA procedures for on-site inspections. The Trump-era inspection rule converted EPA civil inspection practices into rules that must be applied in all civil inspections. The December 30 recission “restor[es] the flexibility needed when carrying out civil inspections under a myriad of circumstances” by allowing inspectors to respond to site-specific conditions on a case-by-case basis. (more…)
Hannah Posen
Chicago
hposen@sidley.com
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
EPA Takes Two New Actions on PFAS
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took two important actions in late December 2021 related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of chemicals receiving increasing legislative and regulatory scrutiny in recent years. The two actions relate to drinking-water monitoring data and to toxicity and human-health testing data. (more…)
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Marshall R. Morales
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Samuel B. Boxerman
sboxerman@sidley.com
Keturah A. Brown
keturah.brown@sidley.com
Grace Dickson Gerbas
gdicksongerbas@sidley.com
Terence T. Healey
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Kenneth W. Irvin
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Christopher J. Polito
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Casey Khan
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Michael L. Lisak
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Brittany A. Bolen
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Brooklyn Hildebrandt
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Nicole E. Noëlliste
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Hannah Posen
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Jack Raffetto
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