The Ninth Circuit denied an environmental group's petition to review EPA's approval of a Montana SIP revision. The group argued that the approval was arbitrary and capricious because Montana's Department of Environmental Quality interpreted one of the SIP's provisions less stringently than the CAA a...
The D.C. Circuit vacated EPA's rule delaying the 2017 Chemical Disaster Rule, which established safety standards for chemical facilities. The Agency argued that it had authority under CAA §112 to delay the effective date of the Rule beyond the ninety-day limit set forth in CAA §307 because ninety ...
A district court granted in part an environmental group's motion for summary judgment to compel EPA to act on its 2016 Plan for the 2008 eight-hour ozone NAAQS adopted by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District and granted in part the Agency's motion requesting an extension on the dead...
The D.C. Circuit denied environmental groups' petition to review a 2016 rule that EPA uses to determine whether an event caused by recurring activity is "exceptional" and thus exempt from a state's emissions report. The groups argued that EPA misread the definition of "natural event" under the excep...
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of a car owner's motion to intervene in DOJ's case against a German automaker to resolve alleged CAA violations. The owner argued that DOJ's settlement with the automaker violated Virginia's SIP by not requiring all affected vehicles to be bought ...
The D.C. Circuit denied Delaware's petition to review EPA's decision granting the Philadelphia area an extra year to comply with national ground-level ozone standards. Delaware argued that the Agency's extension violated the CAA because not all four states in the Philadelphia area applied for an ext...
The D.C. Circuit denied petitions from industry groups challenging EPA's new kiln air emissions standards for brick and clay manufacturers, and largely granted petitions from environmental groups who argued the standards were not strict enough to protect human health. Industry groups argued that the...
A district court ordered EPA to issue federal implementation plans fully resolving interstate transport obligations under the CAA's "good neighbor" provision for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. EPA conceded that it missed the deadline to do so under the Act. The Agency also acknowledged that it was feasible t...
The Tenth Circuit refused to stay pending interlocutory appeal a lower court order staying BLM's waste prevention rule, which was issued to reduce the venting, flaring, and leaking of natural gas emissions during oil and gas production activities on onshore federal land. California, New Mexico, and ...
The D.C. Circuit upheld amendments EPA made to its CAA regional consistency regulations that allow regional offices to act counter to national policies when ordered to do so by federal circuit courts. EPA issued the amended regulations in 2016 in response to the D.C. Circuit's decision in National E...