On February 25, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas issued a decision in the case of Nucor Steel-Ark. v. Big River Steel, in which the plaintiff steel company attempted to utilize the citizen suit provision of the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) to stop a competitor from constructing a $1.3 billion steel mill. In the case, the plaintiff steel company alleged that the defendant competitor violated the CAA because the defendant had received a state-issued air quality permit for a new steel mill to be constructed, but had failed to conduct certain air quality modeling… Read more
Environmental and Sustainability Law
EPA Defends Standards for Air Toxics from Solid Waste Incinerators
The EPA is currently defending its process for establishing standards for emissions of hazardous air pollutants from solid waste incinerators before the D.C. Court of Appeals.[1] Historically, EPA takes a pollutant-by-pollutant approach when determining maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards for commercial and industrial solid waste incineration units. Industry groups have attacked the EPA’s approach which resulted in standards that cannot actually be achieved by existing industrial incinerators. These groups argue that the Clean Air Act requires EPA to set MACT standards based on average overall industry emissions, rather than selecting the best performing units for each individual pollutant. Conversely,… Read more
Federal Court: Manure From Dairy is Solid Waste Regulated by RCRA
In a first-time ruling, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington ruled in January that manure from a dairy is solid waste regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and that excessive spreading of manure on agricultural fields, and leachate from storage lagoons, present an imminent and substantial endangerment that can be enjoined through a citizen suit under RCRA. Community Association for Restoration of the Environment (CARE) v. Cow Palace, LLC, No. 13-CV-3016-TOR (E.D. Wash. 1/14/15). Judge Thomas Rice granted summary judgment to CARE, holding that when excessive manure is applied to crops without regard for… Read more
The Challenges of Green Labeling for Manufacturers
Why manufacturers need to tread a fine line when communicating the environmentally friendly attributes of their products to consumers via Green Labeling. Today, more than ever is a great time to be a “green” manufacturer. As the effects of climate change become more evident and a more frequently discussed topic in the media, consumers are modifying their buying behavior in favor of products they perceive to be environmentally friendly. Consumers are motivated by multiple factors to purchase green products. Although they recognize that green products may be better for the environment, there is also a perception that such products are… Read more
Sixth Circuit Upholds Permit Shield Defense Under CWA General Permits
A Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals panel has ruled for the first time that the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) permit shield defense protects a permittee covered under a General Permit from a citizen suit alleging discharges of toxins not specifically authorized by the permit. The 2-1 ruling issued January 27 in Sierra Club v. ICG Hazard, No. 13-5086 (6th Cir. Jan. 27, 2015) is the first federal appellate decision extending the two-part permit shield test adopted by the Fourth Circuit in Piney Run Preservation Association v. County Commissioners of Carroll County, MD, 268 F. 3d 255 (4th Cir. 2001) to… Read more
New Draft Guidance Proposed by CEQ Encourages Climate Change Evaluation in Environmental Impact Statements
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on December 19 proposed updated guidance for assessing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). CEQ has responsibility for providing guidance to federal agencies on compliance with NEPA’s environmental assessment requirements. The new proposed guidance updates CEQ’s 2010 draft guidance on how agencies should assess projects’ GHG impacts. The draft guidance for the first time includes guidance on the so-called “reverse environmental impact” assessment of the impacts of climate change on proposed projects. The draft also details how federal agencies should analyze and mitigate… Read more
Proposed Solar Financing Legislation Tees Georgia Solar Industry Up for Major Expansion
Representative Mike Dudgeon (R-Johns Creek) introduced HB 57, the Solar Power Free Market Financing Act of 2015, in Georgia’s General Assembly on Thursday, January 15. The bill, which SGR’s Steve O’Day worked closely with Rep. Dudgeon and others in developing language for the bill and in negotiating an agreement among the solar industry and Georgia’s 88 electric utilities, will clarify Georgia law to allow financing of solar systems for residences and businesses in which the payments for the system are based on the electricity produced. Georgia’s businesses and residents will be able to utilize the same kinds of free-market financing for solar… Read more
Ban on Disposal of Electronic Equipment in New York Took Effect January 1
Under a law enacted in 2010, a complete ban on the disposal of electronics went into effect statewide in New York on January 1. The ban applies to almost all electronics—TVs, computers, video game consoles, smartphones, tablets, etc.—but does not include appliances, light bulbs or batteries. Waste haulers are prohibited from picking up trash that includes electronics. Under the law, both the resident/business and the hauler can be fined for illegal disposal of electronics. A hearing is scheduled this month to set the amounts of applicable fines. The law is intended to divert electronic waste to recyclers. For a map… Read more
Federal Government Auctions Largest Area Ever for Offshore Wind Development
The Federal government was scheduled to auction 742,000 acres (over 1,160 square miles) of ocean south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts on January 29 for offshore wind development. It is the largest area ever auctioned for U.S. offshore wind development. There is yet to be an operational offshore wind turbine in the U.S. Across the Atlantic, though, offshore wind development is booming, with 224 turbines in 16 wind farms connected off the shores of Europe in just the first 6 months of 2014. According to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Massachusetts Wind Energy Area “sale will triple the amount of federal offshore… Read more
EPA Proposes to Allow Biomass Energy as GHG Control
On November 19, EPA released a policy memo that allows states to rely on energy generated from “waste-derived and certain forest-derived industrial byproduct feedstocks” as tools for compliance with EPA’s proposed existing source performance standards (ESPS) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The memo announced that EPA will propose a rule exempting waste and “sustainably derived” biomass from best available control technology (BACT) requirements in stationary source permits, and will revise its prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) rules to “include an exemption from the [BACT] requirement for GHGs from waste-derived feedstocks and from non-waste biogenic feedstocks derived from sustainable forest or… Read more