On January 21, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) for heavy-duty engines as part of its Cleaner Trucks Initiative. The ANPR seeks comments on EPA’s plans for a new rulemaking that would set out new emission standards for oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other pollutants for highway heavy-duty engines. Also under consideration are efforts to streamline or otherwise change certification procedures, with the stated goal of reducing costs for engine manufacturers. EPA covers a broad array of topics: lowering NOx emission standards, changing test procedures and test cycles to ensure emission reductions occur in the real world, transitioning to electrification, the impact of fuel types on after-treatment durability, potentially lengthening useful life and warranty periods, and cybersecurity, among many others. EPA is accepting comments for 30 days, until February 20, 2020. EPA has stated that it hopes to act exceptionally quickly and issue a proposed rule by late spring, with the goal of issuing a final rule as early as fall 2020.

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On January 17, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed a case brought by individual plaintiffs, including minor children, and an environmental group in the District of Oregon against the federal government, alleging climate-related injuries and violation of their constitutional rights due to the government’s failure to adequately regulate and control the use of fossil fuels.

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As discussed last week, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill designating specific per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) — as “hazardous substances” under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). But unless and until the designation becomes federal law, the viability of PFAS-related cleanup claims under state law depend on whether the individual state has designated PFOA and PFOS as hazardous. Last week, in Giovanni, et al. v. Department of the Navy, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed a case bringing a claim under Pennsylvania’s Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act (HSCA) for alleged PFOA and PFOS contamination from facilities owned and operated by the U.S. Navy. The court found that the plaintiffs could not maintain their claim because these substances have not been designated as hazardous by either the federal or state government, as required by HSCA.

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On Friday, January 10, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would require the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, or Superfund) and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). In this bill, the House addresses environmental regulation of PFAS initially considered in, but ultimately struck from, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed by Congress and signed into law in December 2019. For more information about the PFAS provisions in the NDAA, see our write-up here.

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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its fourth annual civil monetary penalty adjustment, as required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. The rulemaking became effective on Monday, January 13, 2020, and will apply to all civil penalties assessed by EPA after January 13, 2020, for violations that occurred after November 2, 2015. The new civil monetary amounts are reflected in Table 1 in 40 C.F.R § 19.4 (a copy of the revised penalty table is available in EPA’s Federal Register notice here). Other civil monetary penalty adjustment amounts applicable to violations that occurred earlier in time, or assessed before January 13, 2020, are reflected elsewhere in the tables codified at 40 C.F.R. § 19.4.

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After the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revoked California’s waiver to set its own emissions standards under the Clean Air Act, several states, cities and environmental groups challenged both EPA’s revocation and the “One National Program Rule,” a rule issued jointly by EPA and the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

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The White House Office of Management and Budget completed its review on November 26 of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA or Agency) advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) that will outline potential Agency approaches to updating the Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standard for emissions of ethylene oxide (EtO) from sterilization and fumigation facilities.

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