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Environmental and Energy Brief
Perspectives for the Environmental and Energy Community
Louisiana Federal Court Enjoins EPA’s Use of Disparate Impact Requirements in State Permitting Actions
On Tuesday, January 23, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana granted a preliminary injunction filed by the State of Louisiana seeking to halt the efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in imposing disparate impact-based mandates under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in permitting decisions. The state contends that Title VI prohibits only intentional discrimination and, as a result, EPA’s disparate-impact regulations in 40 C.F.R. §§ 7.10-180 are an unlawful attempt by EPA to impose its environmental justice policy goals in official permitting decisions. According to Louisiana, EPA’s efforts to advance disparate impact-based mandates without explicit statutory authorization runs afoul of the major questions doctrine, which requires agencies to act in accordance with explicit congressional mandate for matters of major political or economic significance.
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Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Aaron L. Flyer
Washington, D.C.
aflyer@sidley.com
Nicole E. Noëlliste
Washington, D.C.
nnoelliste@sidley.com
U.S. Department of Transportation Announces $623M in Grants for Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
On January 11, 2023, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced $623M in grants to expand electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. The grants are part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program and have been made available to fund 47 EV charging and alternative fueling infrastructure projects in 22 states and Puerto Rico. Ranging from $500,000 to about $68.3M, 36 of the grants were awarded to EV charging and hydrogen fueling “community” projects in rural and urban communities, while the remaining 11 grants were awarded to “corridor” projects focused on fueling along roadways to assist in establishing national EV charging and alternative fueling networks.
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Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Rose Quam-Wickham
Washington, D.C.
rquamwickham@sidley.com
The Enforcement Angle: David Uhlmann and OECA
Join Sidley for the Environmental Law Institute’s People Places Planet Podcast series, “The Enforcement Angle.” Through this series, Sidley partners discuss state and federal enforcement of environmental laws and regulations with senior enforcement officials and thought leaders on environmental enforcement in the United States and globally. The featured guests offer their insights into the challenging environmental issues facing corporations today. (more…)
Justin A. Savage
Washington, D.C.
jsavage@sidley.com
U.S. EPA Issues Draft Final Oil and Gas Methane Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a draft of its final oil and gas methane rule on December 2, 2023. It may be some time before the final rule is officially published in the Federal Register, starting the clock on the rule’s compliance obligations. Interested parties will need that extra time to fully digest the 1,690-page draft final rule, which addresses methane emissions from new (in subpart OOOOb) and existing sources (in subpart OOOOc). Here are some of the rule’s key aspects to consider. (more…)
Jim Wedeking
Washington, D.C.
jwedeking@sidley.com
Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
U.S. Department of Transportation Publishes Final Rule on State Greenhouse Gas Performance Measures
On December 7, U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published a final rule providing state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) a national framework to track transportation-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and set targets for reduction. The rule adds a new GHG performance management measure to the existing FHWA national performance measures and creates a system under which state DOTs and MPOs must set targets for reducing roadway travel GHG emissions. Stakeholders that contract with states to build infrastructure should take note of these new mandates.
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Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Rob Abrams
Washington D.C.
rabrams@sidley.com
U.S. Publishes Fifth National Climate Assessment
On November 14, 2023, the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) published the Fifth National Climate Assessment. The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is a federal initiative formed under the Global Change Research Act of 1990, which requires a report to the President and the Congress every four years that integrates, evaluates, and interprets the findings of the USGCRP; analyzes the effects of global change on the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, human health and welfare, human social systems, and biological diversity; and analyzes current trends in global change and projects major trends for the subsequent 25 to 100 years. Before this NCA, four assessments were published (in 2000, 2009, 2014, and 2017).
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Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Jack Raffetto
Washington, D.C.
jraffetto@sidley.com
Rob Abrams
Washington D.C.
rabrams@sidley.com
U.S. Fifth Circuit Reverses EPA’s Denial of Fuel Program Hardship Exemption for Refineries
In Calumet Shreveport Refining LLC v. EPA, Case No. 22-60266 (5th Cir. Nov. 22, 2023), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denials of six small refineries’ petitions for hardship relief under the Clean Air Act Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program, holding that EPA used an “impermissibly retroactive” standard to deny the refineries’ petitions in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. This ruling could serve as a basis for other refineries to challenge EPA’s retroactive denial of their hardship petitions — and provides support for similar petitions pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
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Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Rob Abrams
Washington D.C.
rabrams@sidley.com
Eric D. McArthur
Washington, D.C.
emcarthur@sidley.com
Daniel J. Feith
Washington, D.C.
dfeith@sidley.com
Peter Whitfield
Washington, D.C.
pwhitfield@sidley.com
Peter Bruland
Washington, D.C.
pbruland@sidley.com
U.S. EPA Publishes New Regulations Governing State Plans for Existing Sources of Emissions
On November 9, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published implementing regulations that set timelines and other requirements for state plans to limit pollution from existing sources under Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 111. The amended provisions apply to all emissions guidelines published after July 8, 2019, and will affect the scope and pace of development of updated performance standards for existing facilities.
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Samuel B. Boxerman
Washington, D.C.
sboxerman@sidley.com
Jack Raffetto
Washington, D.C.
jraffetto@sidley.com
Rob Abrams
Washington D.C.
rabrams@sidley.com
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Samuel B. Boxerman
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Keturah A. Brown
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Grace Dickson Gerbas
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Terence T. Healey
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Kenneth W. Irvin
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Christopher J. Polito
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Casey Khan
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Michael L. Lisak
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Brittany A. Bolen
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Aaron L. Flyer
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Brooklyn Hildebrandt
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Nicole E. Noëlliste
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Hannah Posen
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Jack Raffetto
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