In 2015, the United States added about 3,600 megawatts of wind power capacity in the first nine months. This addition is almost triple the amount from a year earlier and is attributed to private sector businesses and local governments moving to lineup their own supplies of electricity. The growth was driven largely by private companies who are now joining utilities which have traditionally been the largest developers of wind energy projects. Amazon, Hewlett Packard and the City of Washington D.C. all signed contracts in the third quarter of 2015 to purchase wind power. In addition, Microsoft and Wal-Mart have announced… Read more
Tag: Phillip Hoover
EPA Sued Over New Ozone Standard
On October 26, 2015, the U.S. EPA published new, more stringent ozone standards of 70 ppm, opening the 60-day window of opportunity to file lawsuits seeking review of the new rule. On the same day, Murray Energy Corp., the largest mining company in the United States, filed a Petition for Judicial Review (Petition) with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The EPA has estimated that the new National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ground level ozone would cost as much as $1.4 billion annually to meet the new, tighter standards. The Petition does not provide the… Read more
EPA Sued Again Over Clean Power Plan Rule
On Friday twenty-four states, led by West Virginia’s Republican Attorney General, Patrick Morrisey, and Murray Energy Corp. filed two petitions against the Environmental Protection Agency and its Administrator, Regina McCarthy, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit seeking judicial review and an immediate stop to enforcement of the final rule implementing the Clean Power Plan, also known as Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. The Plan requires states to substantially reduce carbon emissions from power plants running on fossil fuels by 2030. The overall projection for reduced emissions is 32% over 2005 levels, with states assigned… Read more
EPA to Issue Guidance for New Ozone Standard
On October 1, 2015, the U.S. EPA issued a final rule (RIN2060-AP38), revising the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone from 75 ppb to 70 ppb (46 ER 2899, 10215). In a memorandum published simultaneously with the rule, the U.S. EPA indicated its intention to issue guidelines to assist states as they begin the process of implementing the agency’s new ozone standard. One area that will be covered by the guidance is the issuance of permits under the new source review program, which applies to new and modified industrial facilities. Although nonattainment designations under the 2015 ozone standards will not… Read more
Court Again Dismisses Clean Power Plan Challenges As Premature
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has rejected two lawsuits brought by 15 states and Peabody Energy Corp., which seek to block the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. The lawsuits are In re West Virginia, D.C. Cir., No. 15-1277; In re Peabody Energy Corp., D.C. Cir., No. 15-1284. The final Clean Power Plan has not yet been issued, and EPA expects that it will be published in late October. The petitioners requested that the Court issue an extraordinary writ under the All Writs Act to block the final Clean Power Plan, arguing that the rule is… Read more
U.S. EPA Sends Notice of Violation to Volkswagen
On Friday, September 25, the U.S. EPA released a letter sent to Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. asserting that the companies were in violation of the Clean Air Act for model years 2009-2015 for certain four-cylinder Audi and Volkswagen diesel cars. The allegations in the letter state that the cars were equipped with software that circumvented the EPA’s emission standards. The software, known as a “defeat device” was designed to turn off emission controls under normal operating condition, and to turn them on when the car is undergoing emissions test. The software allowed the cars… Read more
Clean Power Plan Emphasizes Carbon Trading
The EPA’s Clean Power Plan (RIN2060-AR33), released August 3, 2015, sets individual state emissions targets allows states to craft their own plan to meet those requirements. In the rule, the EPA has also proposed a model federal plan which it will impose on states that choose not to submit their own. The federal plan focuses entirely on emissions trading, and it is widely anticipated that states that choose to implement their own plan will follow suit. The EPA has previously enacted trading schemes for emissions of conventional pollutants, such as sulfur and nitrogen, but those programs were established under separate… Read more
Corps’ Memo Declares Economic, Technical Support Documents for New Water Rule Flawed
In a May 15, 2015 memorandum published just prior to the U.S. EPA’s issuance of regulations clarifying the scope of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), the Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) claims that the economic and technical analysis provided by the Corps to the U.S. EPA regarding Section 404 permitting spanning fiscal years 2009 to 2014 was misapplied by the EPA in crafting the CWA rule which was jointly published on June 2015. The memo claims that the Corps provided the EPA with raw dredge-and-fill permitting data and that the Corps had no role in selecting or analyzing the data that… Read more
EPA Releases Final Greenhouse Gas Emission Rule
On August 3, EPA released its final rule implementing the Climate Action Plan focused on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions – carbon dioxide or CO2, from power plants. While CO2 is naturally occurring, EPA reports that power plants account for 32 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from anthropogenic sources. The plan phases in CO2 reduction requirements, with a 32 percent reduction required by 2030, equivalent to emissions from about 166 million automobiles. About 1,000 power plants across the United States are affected by the rule. EPA states the rule will lower electricity costs by $7.00 per month for most… Read more
White House To Review Plan To Issue Guidance To States On Clean Power Compliance
The Environmental Protection Agency’s soon to be finalized Clean Power Plan has been sent to the White House for review. The EPA views the federal plan as an interim measure to ensure that congressionally mandated emission standards under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act are fully implemented until such time as states assume their role as the preferred implementers of the emission guidelines issued by the EPA. The implementation plan, which was sent to the OMB on July 2, also serves as a model for the EPA to implement measures to achieve emission standards in states that elect not… Read more