Monthly Archives: March 2020

EPA Enforcement (or not) in a COVID-19 Emergency

Last week, Susan Bodine, EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, issued a memorandum stating that EPA would exercise its enforcement discretion and not take enforcement action against entities that cannot comply with obligations to EPA due to issues arising from COVID-19.  At a certain level, this is understandable.  The world has been turned upside down and no one quite knows what is feasible in the current circumstances and what it not.… More

EPA’s Limits on Advisory Committee Participation Are Subject to Judicial Review

On Monday, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals held that EPA’s directive forbidding those who receive EPA grants from serving on EPA advisory committees is subject to judicial review.  It’s an important issue, because the advisory boards are one of the few checks on EPA’s efforts to undermine of the use of science in its rulemaking.

EPA argued that it retains discretion over the composition of its advisory committees and that plaintiffs’ claims were not justiciable. … More

Balancing Environmental Protection and Public Health in the time of COVID-19 (and after)

Greenwire reported today that two medical sterilization facilities in Georgia that had been shut down or had production limited due to concerns about exposures to ethylene oxide would be allowed to increase operations in response to the need for sterilized medical equipment to address the COVID-19 pandemic.  The result is not surprising and, one assumes, appropriate in the circumstances.

It does highlight, though,… More

California’s Agreement With Quebec Is Not a Treaty — At Least For Now

Last week, Judge William Shubb of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California ruled that the Agreement between California and Quebec to jointly operate a GHG cap-and-trade market did not violate either the Treaty Clause or the Compact Clause.  These are not parts of the Constitution that are normally a focus of environmental law classes, so take what follows with an appropriately sized grain of salt.… More

It’s the Energy Markets, Stupid (And Energy Markets Are Complex)

This week, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office released a white paper documenting the results of a symposium convened last fall to discuss how electric markets should be organized to manage the transition to a “low / no-carbon future.”  Policy wonks, such as myself, will find it fascinating reading, though it is moderately dense stuff.

Seriously, it is important to acknowledge that these issues are as complex as they are important. … More

Baltimore’s Climate Case Will Be Heard in State Court

Last week, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court decision remanding Baltimore’s climate change litigation to state court.  I wouldn’t read too much into the decision, which is founded on the niceties of federal law governing removal of cases to federal court. 

Basically, federal law severely limits courts of appeal authority to reverse erroneous remand orders:

An order remanding a case to the State court from which it was removed is not reviewable on appeal or otherwise,… More

Federalism and the Regulation of PFAS

There has been much angst at the state level that EPA has not moved faster to develop drinking water or cleanup standards for PFAS.  One of the states affected by the pace of EPA’s regulatory efforts is New Hampshire.  Taking up the mantle, New Hampshire enacted legislation requiring the Department of Environmental Services to take a variety of actions with respect to PFAS.  One required action is the development of a plan for the establishment of surface water quality standards for four PFAS compounds.… More

The Science Advisory Board Lives!

The attack on science by this administration is not news at this point.  Part of that attack has been to increase the number of industry scientists on EPA’s Science Advisory Board.  I have no objection per se to additional industry representation on the SAB; a lot of good science gets done by industry.  There are dangers, though.  When Tony Cox, who is neither a statistician nor an epidemiologist,… More