pehoover Archives

Apr 18, 2017

Trump Administration Seeks to Cut Clean Energy Division Budget

The White House is seeking to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the budget of an Energy Department division that funds technological research in projects ranging from LED light bulbs to plug-in electric trucks. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, currently funded at $2.1 billion per year, would see its allocation slashed by at least $700 million under a proposal of the Office of Management and Budget. The proposed cuts come as President Trump, who did not support wind and solar power on the campaign trail, seeks to boost defense spending by $54 billion by offsetting the… Read more

Mar 28, 2017

Appalachian Aid Agency Cut from President Trump’s Proposed Budget

Under President Trump’s proposed budget funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission, a federal-state partnership intended to create economic opportunities in thirteen Appalachian states would be eliminated. The Commission is an independent agency established in 1965 under President Linden Johnson as part of his War on Poverty. Many of the projects funded by the Commission involve the cleanup of abandoned mine sites, sometimes turning them into agricultural or recreational lands, and to provide training and jobs for workers dislocated from the coal and coal-fired power plant industries. The Commission’s annual operating budget is $146 million, and from October 2015 to January… Read more

Mar 21, 2017

Scott Pruitt Withdraws Obama Measure Requiring Reporting of Methane Leaks

Scott Pruitt, the new EPA administrator, has withdrawn an Obama era measure requiring oil and gas companies to submit data on methane leaks from their facility to the EPA. The notice came one day after representatives in the oil and gas states requested that he withdraw the measure. Many in the oil and gas industry saw the Obama era measure as a prelude to new regulations on existing oil and gas facilities. The notice, signed by Pruitt, states that the EPA “would like to assess the need” for the “data and reduce burdens on businesses while the agency assesses such… Read more

Mar 1, 2017

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Drop as Natural Gas Replaces Coal Power

U.S. greenhouse gas emissions declined by more than 2 percent between 2014 and 2015. This decline was assisted by the transition from coal to natural gas in multiple industries, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s annual draft report on emissions. The Energy Information Administration expects natural gas generating capacity to increase 8 percent in 2017 and 2018. For more information, contact Phillip Hoover.

Feb 21, 2017

EPA Sued by Homebuilders over Joint Liability for Stormwater Issues

In a lawsuit filed on February 6 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, developers working on construction sites with multiple contractors have alleged that they should not be liable when another contractor causes a violation of the project’s NPDES stormwater permit. Historically, multiple operators at a single site are required to obtain individual permits but share responsibility for compliance for the entire project. The suit argues that the joint and liability language of the construction permit makes all contractors responsible for each other’s permit violations even when the contractors have no control over the operations… Read more

Feb 6, 2017

Trump’s Presidential Memo Encourages the Development of a Permit Streamlining Action Plan

In a January 24th Presidential Memorandum, President Trump urged the Commerce Department to develop a “permitting streamlining action plan” recommending policy and procedural changes that will boost domestic manufacturing. The manufacturing sector frequently cites regulatory requirements, including delays in the processing of necessary permits, as barriers to investment in domestic manufacturing projects. It is anticipated that the Trump memo could cover a number of environmental permits such as Title V operating permits, new source review permits, as well as national pollutant discharge elimination system permits. The policy contains no details; however, industry trade organizations are optimistic that the memo will… Read more

Feb 1, 2017

EPA Denies State Request to Expand Ozone Transport Regions

A petition, which was filed by several “downwind” states to expand the region of states required to take additional steps to control emissions of ozone-forming pollutants, is likely to be denied by the EPA. Authority to impose additional pollution control measures on stationary sources of ozone, precursor pollutants comes from the Cross-State Rule which states that emissions of ozone precursors can be more stringently regulated in states where emissions are causing a downwind state to address its own emissions of ozone precursor pollutants. The petition seeks to add the following states to the Ozone Transport Region: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan,… Read more

Jan 11, 2017

Possible Change to EPA Toxic Rules for Large Boilers

On December 23, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) toxic pollution requirements for large industrial boilers were flawed, siding with arguments made by environmental groups. The decision left the existing rule in place while ordering the EPA to make the necessary corrections in the boiler, Maximum Achievable Control Technology Standards for Boilers, commonly known as Boiler MACT. Industrial groups have expressed optimism that the incoming Trump administration will take the opportunity to revise how the EPA sets toxic pollutant standards across the board. For example, the Trump administration’s EPA… Read more

Dec 19, 2016

EPA Raises Defense of Power Plant Carbon Rule in Federal Court

The US EPA has argued that carbon dioxide limits for newly constructed power plants fall squarely within the EPA’s Clean Air Act authority, thereby making arguments in a Federal Court which President-Elect Donald Trump’s Administrator nominee has already rejected. The incoming Trump Administration will be tasked with defending the new source performance standards for new and modified power plants which the President-Elect has vowed to repeal. The case is set for argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on April 17th unless the Administration chooses to seek an abeyance of the lawsuit or possibly a… Read more

Aug 15, 2016

Oil, Gas Industry Air Pollution Standards Will Not be Reopened

The 2012 emission standards (“ESs”) applicable to the oil and gas industry will not be reopened by the U.S. EPA despite requests by the American Petroleum Institute and other industry and environmental groups’ petitions. The ESs, which include the first federal air standards for natural gas wells that are hydraulically fractured, were intended to curb emissions of volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants from those wells. The standards require new hydraulically fractured gas wells to utilize technology known as a “green completion” to capture gas that otherwise would escape. The issues under the proposed rule that the EPA will… Read more