FERC Proposes Changes to Filing Requirements for Natural Gas Act Rate Cases

At its May 19, 2022, Open Meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) on potential changes as to how natural gas pipelines submit supporting statements, schedules, and workpapers when filing a Natural Gas Act (NGA) Section 4 rate case. (more…)

EPA Rescinds Trump-Era Civil Inspection Rule

On Thursday, December 30, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule rescinding a Trump-era rule that changed EPA procedures for on-site inspections. The Trump-era inspection rule converted EPA civil inspection practices into rules that must be applied in all civil inspections. The December 30 recission “restor[es] the flexibility needed when carrying out civil inspections under a myriad of circumstances” by allowing inspectors to respond to site-specific conditions on a case-by-case basis. (more…)

D.C. Circuit Denies Request to Stay Reconsideration of Lead and Copper Drinking Water Rule

On October 27, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied a motion filed by five Republican state attorneys general to stay EPA’s June 2021 rule delaying the effective date of the Lead and Copper Drinking Water Rule promulgated under the Trump administration until December 16, 2021, thereby extended the compliance deadline for the rule by 10 months to October 2024. (more…)

EPA Issues Final Rule to Reduce Hydrofluorocarbons

On Friday, September 23, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the final rule to reduce the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 85% by 2036. The rule sets baselines for HFC production and consumption from which reductions can be measured and establishes a compliance and enforcement program. In addition to announcing the final rule, EPA also announced an interagency task force with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to prevent the illegal import and trade of HFCs. (more…)

EPA Rescinds Trump-Era Cost-Benefit Rule

On May 14, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rescinded a rule issued during the Trump administration that changed how EPA calculated and presented the costs and benefits of rules under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Advanced on the ground of providing greater transparency, the rule had required EPA to determine the benefits that a new regulation provided directly, while separately valuing the “co-benefits” that would accrue by reducing other pollutants not covered by the new regulation. Industry had argued that EPA regulations should be based solely on the value of reducing the emissions it was authorized to regulate — while opponents argued the rule would ignore obvious benefits and justify weakening regulation.

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