United States v. Enterprise Gas Processing, LLC, No. 1:24-cv-1878 (D. Colo. July 8, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, settling CAA defendants must perform injunctive relief and pay a $1,000,000 civil penalty for alleged failures to monitor and repair leaking equipment at a natural gas processing plant in Colorado.

FWS listed the Pearl River map turtle as a threatened species with §4(d) protective regulations under the ESA; due to similarity of appearance, the Service also listed the Alabama map turtle, Barbour’s map turtle, Escambia map turtle, and Pascagoula map turtle as threatened species with §4(d) protective regulations under the Act. 

SIP Proposal: California (emissions statement requirements for the 2015 ozone NAAQS). 

SIP Proposal: Minnesota (regional haze plan for second implementation period). 

NMFS announced the adoption of an ESA recovery plan for the threatened oceanic whitetip shark and the initiation of a five-year review for the species. 

FEMA issued a final rule to implement the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and update the agency's eight-step decisionmaking process for floodplain reviews. 

SIP Proposal: New Hampshire (ambient air quality standards revisions). 

EPA made an interim final determination to stay application of the offset sanction and defer application of the highway sanction associated with its August 16, 2022, disapproval of certain reasonably available control technology requirements for the 1997 and 2008 ozone NAAQS for Pennsylvania.

SIP Proposal: New Jersey (revisions to address requirements for emission statement program, ozone nonattainment new source review program, nonattainment emission inventory, and clean fuels for fleets; reasonable further progress plans and associated motor vehicle emission budgets for both moderate and serious classifications of the 2008 ozone NAAQS).

SIP Proposal: North Dakota (partial approval and partial disapproval of regional haze plan for second implementation period).

SIP Proposal: Pennsylvania (nitrogen oxides emission limits and requirements for coal-fired electric generating units equipped with selective catalytic reduction at Keystone, Conemaugh, Homer City, and Montour facilities).

SIP Approval: Wisconsin (second 10-year 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter limited maintenance plan). 

FWS proposed to designate approximately 1.5 acres of spring pool and 11.4 miles of spring run in Tennessee as critical habitat for the Barrens topminnow under the ESA. 

United States v. Enbridge Energy, LP, No. 1:16-cv-914 (W.D. Mich. June 29, 2024). A proposed eighth modification to a consent decree concerning two separate oil spills in Michigan and Illinois in 2010 would require settling CWA and OPA defendants to investigate circumferential crack features in four pipelines; revise the methods used for assessing whether a circumferential crack must be excavated and repaired; adjust certain requirements relating to repair and mitigation of circumferential crack features; eliminate two requirements relating to circumferential cracks; and enable defendants to seek early termination of certain requirements relating to circumferential crack features.

SIP Approval: California (revisions to motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program). 

EPA proposed to promulgate a federal implementation plan under the CAA consisting of nonattainment new source review rules for areas within the jurisdiction of the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District in which air pollutant concentrations are above specific NAAQS. 

SIP Approval: Massachusetts (regional haze). 

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) adopted DOE's electric vehicle charging stations categorical exclusion under NEPA to use in DTRA programs and funding opportunities administered by the agency. 

SIP Proposal: California (revisions to requirements for the 1997 fine particulate matter NAAQS in the San Joaquin Valley serious nonattainment area). 

EPA proposed to grant a one-year extension of the applicable “serious” attainment date for the 1997 annual fine particulate matter San Joaquin Valley, California nonattainment area. 

SIP Approval: Connecticut (revisions to source monitoring, record keeping, and reporting requirements). 

United States v. Gristede's Foods NY, Inc., No. 24 Civ. 4981 (S.D.N.Y. July 1, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CAA defendant that violated EPA’s Recycling and Emissions Reduction Rule must implement a new refrigerant compliance management plan; reduce its companywide refrigerant leak rates; repair or replace specified appliances; convert certain stores to using more advanced refrigerants; and pay a $400,000 civil penalty. 

EPA finalized the residual risk and technology review conducted for the Coke Ovens: Pushing, Quenching, and Battery Stacks source category NESHAP and the periodic technology review for the Coke Oven Batteries source category NESHAP.

The National Park Service amended its regulations for sport hunting and trapping in national preserves in Alaska to prohibit bear baiting and clarify trapping regulations.

SIP Proposal: Missouri (partial approval and partial disapproval of revisions concerning regional haze).

FWS determined threatened species status for the Mount Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan under the ESA, and finalized a §4(d) rule that provides necessary and advisable measures for conservation of the species.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) adopted a categorical exclusion established by DOE that covers a category of actions PHMSA proposes to take.

SIP Proposal: New Mexico (revisions related to 2015 eight-hour ozone NAAQS for the Sunland Park nonattainment area).

FWS proposed to remove the white sedge from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants under the ESA.

EPA entered into a proposed settlement agreement under CERCLA concerning the Olin Chemical Superfund Site in Wilmington, Massachusetts.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) adopted 18 categorical exclusions established by DOE pursuant to NEPA to use for proposed DHS actions.

SIP Proposal: California (revisions concerning nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from boilers, gas turbines, and miscellaneous combustion units, and reasonably available control technology requirements for major source of NOx in the Sacramento Metro ozone nonattainment area).

NRC proposed to amend its regulations on categorical exclusions for licensing, regulatory, and administrative actions that individually or cumulatively do not have a significant effect on the human environment by eliminating the preparation of EAs for such NRC actions.

EPA announced the availability of and seeks comment on a framework for expanding interagency collaboration to improve the communication and knowledge base within the federal family to fully consider potential adverse impact of pesticides on efficacy of human and animal drugs.

SIP Proposal: California (motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program requirements for the 2015 eight-hour ozone NAAQS).

EPA entered into a proposed settlement agreement under CERCLA concerning the Olin Chemical Superfund Site in Wilmington, Massachusetts.

SIP Approval: Iowa (recent changes to Linn County ordinances).

The Forest Service adopted multiple categorical exclusions from the Department of Commerce, DOE, BLM, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and Bureau of Indian Affairs for future application to Service decisions concerning land management activities that are similar in nature.

SIP Proposal: New Jersey (interstate transport requirements for the 2010 one-hour sulfur dioxide primary NAAQS).

SIP Approval: Utah (revisions to air quality rules).

EPA announced the availability of revised guidelines for eligible recipients (states, territories, and the District of Columbia) awarded federal grants under §319 of the CWA for the implementation of nonpoint source management programs.

SIP Proposal: Pennsylvania (revisions establishing reasonably available control technology requirements for the 2008 and 2015 ozone NAAQS for each category of volatile organic compound sources covered by EPA’s 2016 control techniques guidelines for the oil and gas industry). 

United States v. Westchester Joint Water Works, No. 24 Civ. 4783 (S.D.N.Y. June 24, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, settling SDWA defendants that violated maximum contaminant level set by EPA for certain disinfectant byproducts in drinking water, as well as a related administrative order requiring construction of a water filtration plant by specified deadlines, must (1) build and commence operation of a drinking water filtration plant by July 1, 2029; (2) implement measures to ensure the safety of its water supply until the filtration plant is operational; (3) pay a total of $1,250,000 in civil penalties; and (4) spend at least $900,000 on a supplemental environmental project to improve source water quality and at least $6,800,000 on two state water quality benefit projects. 

FWS determined threatened species status under the ESA for the Suwannee alligator snapping turtle and finalized a rule issued under §4(d) of the Act that provides for the conservation of the species. 

Regents of the University of Minnesota v. United States, No. 17-cv-3690 (D. Minn. June 21, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CERCLA defendant would pay $13,000,000 for environmental response actions and payment of response costs at a property owned by the University of Minnesota and formerly part of the Gopher Ordnance Works Site. 

EPA approved the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s request to update the method of delegations and continue the delegations of authority to implement and enforce NESHAPs and NESHAPs for source categories. 

EPA proposed to amend a provision of the technology transitions regulations promulgated under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act to allows one additional year, until January 1, 2027, solely for the installation of new residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pump variable refrigerant flow systems that are 65,000 British thermal units per hour or greater using components manufactured in the United States or imported prior to January 1, 2026. 

EPA entered into a proposed administrative settlement agreement under CERCLA that provides for the performance of response actions and the payment for certain response costs incurred by the United States and the state of Colorado in connection with the Broderick Wood Products Superfund site. 

DOE seeks information to carry out its responsibilities under Exec. Order No. 14091, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, to update to its Equity Action Plan.

SIP Proposal: Idaho (miscellaneous changes).

SIP Proposal: Indiana (revision to monitoring and compliance requirements for certain process heater stacks at Safety-Kleen Oil Recovery Company in Lake County). 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized corporate average fuel economy standards for passenger cars, light trucks, heavy-duty pickup trucks, and vans. 

EPA proposed amendments to several new source performance standards and NESHAPs under the CAA; the amendments would remove the affirmative defense provisions associated with violation of emission standards due to malfunctions.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration amended the Hazardous Materials Regulations to require railroads that carry hazardous materials to generate in electronic form, maintain, and provide to first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel, certain information regarding hazardous materials in rail transportation to enhance emergency response and investigative efforts. 

EPA established an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues for eight different chemicals when used as an inert ingredient in a pesticide chemical formulation.

FWS announced findings that the Kiamichi crayfish, Rio Grande chub, and Rio Grande sucker are not warranted for listing as endangered or threatened species under the ESA. 

EPA identified certain additional water quality-limited segments for the Arkansas 2020 §303(d) list, and seeks comment on those additions. 

United States v. Pope Resources, No. 3:24-cv-05470 (W.D. Wash. June 13, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree concerning the release of hazardous substances from the former Pope & Talbot sawmill facility in Kitsap County, Washington, settling CERCLA and CWA defendants must construct, implement, maintain, and monitor a habitat restoration project; fund future long-term maintenance, monitoring, and stewardship of the project; and pay past and estimated future costs for natural resource damages assessment and restoration implementation and oversight. 

DOE seeks feedback on draft environmental justice goals in its Environmental Justice Strategic Plan. 

EPA granted a request from the governor of Texas to voluntarily reclassify the San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Houston-Galveston-Brazoria ozone nonattainment areas from moderate to serious for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. 

NMFS announced the initiation of a five-year review for the Maui’s dolphin and South Island Hector’s dolphin.

United States v. Santolubes, LLC, No.24-cv-807 (E.D. Mo. June 10, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, settling CERCLA defendants must pay $300,000 for response costs incurred at the Findett/Hayford Bridge Road Groundwater Superfund site in St. Charles County, Missouri.

SIP Proposal: Nevada (revisions concerning particulate matter emissions from woodburning devices in Washoe County).

EPA proposed to address the unreasonable risk of injury to human health presented by n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) under its conditions of use as documented in the Agency's risk evaluation and risk determination for NMP pursuant to TSCA.

EPA established requirements for commercial refrigerating appliances and commercial ice machines, safe use of flammable refrigerants, and safe design, construction, installation, and operation of refrigeration systems; and listed several substitutes as acceptable for retail food refrigeration, commercial ice machines, industrial process refrigeration, cold storage warehouses, and ice skating rinks, pursuant to the Agency's significant new alternatives policy program.

SIP Approval: North Carolina (updates to 2026 on-road and nonroad emissions inventories, safety margins, and motor vehicle emissions budgets). 

EPA announced the availability of acute freshwater aquatic life screening values for 6PPD and its transformation product 6PPD-quinone. 

SIP Approval: West Virginia (second 10-year limited maintenance plans for the 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter NAAQS for the Charleston area and the West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton, Ohio-West Virginia area).

SIP Proposal: Arizona (partial approval and partial disapproval of revisions concerning implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of the 2012 fine particulate matter NAAQS).

SIP Approval: California (revisions to meet extreme area requirements for the 1997 eight-hour ozone NAAQS in the Riverside Co. nonattainment area).

EPA designated one new equivalent method for measuring concentrations of ozone in ambient air.

SIP Proposal: Michigan (removal of redundant definition for "used oil"). 

SIP Approval: Michigan (removal of redundant definition for "used oil"). 

EPA proposed to enter into individual CERCLA settlements with seven additional parties concerning the recovery of cleanup costs at Bennett Landfill Fire Site in Chester, South Carolina. 

EPA entered into a CERCLA settlement agreement with LPC Holdings, Inc., concerning recovery of cleanup costs at the Aberdeen Contaminated Groundwater Superfund Site in Aberdeen, North Carolina. 

FERC revised the pro forma Open Access Transmission Tariff to remedy deficiencies in the Commission’s existing regional and local transmission planning and cost allocation requirements. 

The National Park Service (NPS) proposed to revise regulations governing the application, processing, and issuance of right-of-way permits for lands and waters administered by NPS.

United States v. ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. LLC, No. 4:24-cv-473-KGB (E.D. Ark. June 3, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, settling OPA defendants must pay a total of $1,755,082 in connection with a discharge of oil from the Pegasus Pipeline into the environment in and around Mayflower, Arkansas, that migrated to waters, wetlands, and ultimately to Lake Conway.

SIP Proposal: Pennsylvania (revisions to attainment plan for the Indiana, Pennsylvania 2010 one-hour sulfur dioxide nonattainment area). 

EPA determined that Alabama’s coal combustion residuals permit program does not meet the standard for approval under RCRA. 

DOI proposed to revise seven categorical exclusions under NEPA in the Bureau of Reclamation’s NEPA implementing procedures. 

SIP Proposal: Connecticut (removal of State Order Nos. 7002B and 2087 and addition of Consent Order No. 8381). 

FWS initiated five-year status reviews under the ESA for 59 animal and plant species.

NOAA issued final regulations for the designation of the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary in eastern Lake Ontario to recognize the national significance of the area’s historical, archaeological, and cultural resources and to manage this area as part of the National Marine Sanctuary System.

FERC proposed to amend regulations to clarify that for all proceedings before the Commission that require a water quality certification pursuant to §401(a)(1) of the CWA, the reasonable period of time during which the certifying authority may act on the water quality certification request is one year from the certifying authority’s receipt of the request.

The president issued Proclamation No. 10770 of May 31, 2024, proclaiming June 2024 as National Ocean Month.  

United States v. Union Carbide Corp., No. 1:24-cv-01463 (D. Colo. May 23, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, settling CERCLA defendants must pay $600,000 to reimburse response costs incurred at the Uravan Uranium Project Superfund Site in Montrose County, Colorado, and to comply with institutional controls and other requirements for property owned within the site. 

FWS determined endangered species status under the ESA for the Guadalupe fatmucket, Texas fatmucket, Guadalupe orb, Texas pimpleback, Balcones spike, and false spike, determined threatened species status for the Texas fawnsfoot, and designated approximately 1,577.5 river miles in total as critical habitat for the seven species of freshwater mussels in central Texas. 

SIP Proposal: District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (revisions to motor vehicle emissions budgets and onroad and nonroad mobile emissions for volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides for years 2025 and 2030). 

SIP Proposal: Georgia (regional haze). 

The Internal Revenue Service proposed regulations relating to the clean electricity production credit and the clean electricity investment credit established by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to provide rules for determining greenhouse gas emissions rates resulting from the production of electricity; petitioning for provisional emissions rates; and determining eligibility for these credits in various circumstances.

SIP Approval: Kentucky (revisions to geographical boundary description and attainment status designation for the Henderson-Webster 2010 primary sulfur dioxide nonattainment area). 

SIP Proposal: Nebraska (miscellaneous changes). 

United States v. TPC Group LLC, No. 24-00187 (E.D. Tex. May 21, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CAA defendant must pay $12.1 million in civil penalties and spend approximately $80 million to improve its risk management program and improve safety at its petrochemical manufacturing facilities in Port Neches and Houston, Texas, in connection with a November 2019 explosion at the Neches facility and failure to take corrective action at the Houston facility. 

United States v. PSF, Inc., No. 3:24-cv-00112 (D. Alaska May 24, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, settling CWA defendants that allegedly violated the conditions and limitations of their NPDES permits at their facilities in Valdez and King Cove, Alaska, must perform injunctive relief and pay $750,000 in civil penalties. 

NMFS announced its 90-day finding on a petition to list the Delaware River population of Atlantic sturgeon as an endangered distinct population segment (DPS) of Atlantic sturgeon under the ESA and to designate critical habitat for the DPS, finding the petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating action may be warranted and denying the petition. 

SIP Proposal: Arizona (partial approval and partial disapproval of revisions related to regional haze). 

EPA proposed a regulatory framework for states and public water systems to identify and assess restructuring alternatives to ensure that every community receives safe, affordable, and reliable drinking water. 

FWS removed approximately 64,797 acres of land within Arizona from the designation of critical habitat for the jaguar to comply with a court order. 

FWS proposed to designate approximately 930 acres in Churchill County, Nevada, as critical habitat for the Dixie Valley toad under the ESA.