Monthly Archives: August 2018

Municipalities May Regulate the Local Impacts of Pipelines Without Violating the Commerce Clause

On Friday, Judge John Woodcock held that an ordinance enacted by the City of South Portland, Maine, that prohibited loading crude oil from a pipeline terminating in South Portland onto tankers in South Portland Harbor, in order to prevent certain adverse local impacts, did not violate the Constitution’s Commerce Clause.  It’s potentially a very important decision in this area.  Congratulations to my partner Jonathan Ettinger and our entire team that worked on the case. … More

EPA Proposes To Replace the Clean Power Plan. How About a Proposal To Replace Its Benefits?

EPA has finally released its proposed replacement for the Clean Power Plan, dubbed the Affordable Clean Energy Rule.  More affordable than clean, I’d say.

What’s really telling is that EPA’s own analysis shows that the CPP would have delivered significantly more benefits than ACE.  And that goes for both direct benefits in GHG emissions reductions and indirect benefits related to reductions in traditional criteria pollutants.… More

Another Day, Another Reversal of an EPA Regulatory Delay

On Friday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated EPA’s “Delay Rule”, which postponed compliance with EPA regulations governing preparation of Risk Management Plans under the Clean Air Act.  The decision comes only one day after another court decision vacating the “Suspension Rule” which postponed the Waters of the United States Rule.

Memo to EPA General Counsel’s office.  If something labeled “Delay Rule” or “Suspension Rule” comes across your desk,… More

How Much Does Trump Even Care About Deregulation?

On Thursday, the Trump Administration’s “Suspension Rule,” which delayed implementation of the Obama Waters of the United States Rule for two years was struck down.  Judge David Norton of the District of South Carolina issued a nationwide injunction against the rule.

It’s important to note that the case was not about the merits of the WOTUS rule.  It was simply about the Trump administration’s failure to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act in promulgating the Suspension Rule.… More

Court Orders EPA to Ban Chlorpyrifos: No Escaping Jurisdiction After 10 Years of Delay

Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered EPA to revoke all tolerances for chlorpyrifos within 60 days.  It’s another fairly devastating indictment of the Trump administration.

First of all, the merits were pretty clear.  Clear enough that the administration did not attempt to defend the case on the merits!  The statutory language requires EPA to ban pesticides from use on food products unless:

There is a reasonable certainty that no harm will result from aggregate exposure to the pesticide.… More

The Top Ten Explanations For Western Wildfires

  1. Environmentalists  
  2. Immigrants
  3. Russians
  4. Europeans (Failed to pay their share of fire defense costs).
  5. Hillary Clinton
  6. Robert Mueller
  7. Elizabeth Warren
  8. Journalists
  9. John McCain
  10. Climate Change

Never mind.  There are only nine. More

Winston Churchill and Fuel Economy Standards

So the Trump administration has formally proposed to roll back CAFE standards for model years beginning in 2021.  And California has announced its intention to start separately enforcing its own standards if the federal standards are weakened.  Trying to sort it all out, I was somehow reminded of the famous Winston Churchill statement:

Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe.… More

Dog Bites Man: Scott Pruitt Edition

According to Greenwire (subscription required), EPA has acknowledged that it possesses no records providing a factual basis for claims made by Scott Pruitt that GHG emissions are not a primary contributor to global warming.

As we noted in June, EPA opposed a FOIA request seeking documents supporting Pruitt’s statements, and the Court ordered EPA to provide responsive documents.  Except that, apparently, there aren’t any.… More

Massachusetts Passes “Minibus” Clean Energy Bill

On July 31, the Massachusetts Legislature passed H.4857, An Act to Advance Clean Energy.” The bill, released late on July 30, was the result of a compromise between the Senate’s broad, omnibus bill passed in early June and the House’s more modest proposals, passed piecemeal in mid-July. Among other things, the bill:

  • increases opportunities for energy efficiency by expanding the definition of qualifying programs;…
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