DOI reassigned responsibilities for the administration of certain regulations governing renewable energy development and alternate uses of existing facilities on the outer continental shelf, transferring them from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
United States v. Lynden, Inc., No. 2:23-cv-00101 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 24, 2023). Settling CERCLA, CWA, and OPA defendants that released hazardous substances and discharged oil from facilities along and near the Lower Duwamish River must pay $556,250 for natural resource damages; purchase restoration credits in a restoration project constructed along the Lower Duwamish River by a project developer to serve as a restoration credit bank; and pay their equitable share of assessment costs.
United States v. Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services, Inc., No. 1:23-cv-00084-UNA (D. Del. Jan. 24, 2023). Settling CAA defendants that failed to comply with regulations pertaining to locomotives promulgated by EPA must pay a penalty of $1,350,000, undertake various actions to facilitate their compliance with applicable locomotive regulations, and remove 88 older and high emission locomotives from service to mitigate the harm caused by their non-compliance.
SIP Proposal: Wisconsin (revisions concerning volatile organic compound reasonably available control technology requirements).
SIP Proposal: California (revisions concerning provisions for clean fuels or advanced control technology for boilers for the 2015 ozone NAAQS in the San Joaquin Valley and Los Angeles–South Coast Air Basin nonattainment areas).
SIP Proposal: California (approval of three rules and limited approval and limited disapproval of six rules concerning the new source review permitting program for new and modified sources of air pollution in the Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District).
SIP Proposal: California (revisions concerning nitrogen oxide emissions from boilers, process heaters, and steam generators in the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District).
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management proposed reforms to its renewable energy program, including proposals for incremental funding of decommissioning accounts; more flexible geophysical and geotechnical survey submission requirements; streamlined approval of meteorological buoys; revised project verification procedures; reform of the Bureau’s renewable energy auction process; and greater clarity regarding safety requirements.
The Office of Management and Budget, on behalf of the Interagency Policy Working Group on Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions, announced the availability of a finalized strategic plan on statistics for environmental-economic decisions.
EPA proposed to revise the primary annual particulate matter (PM) 2.5 standard; retain the current primary 24-hour particulate matter (PM) 2.5 standard, the primary 24-hour PM10 standard, the secondary 24-hour PM2.5 standard, the secondary annual PM2.5 standard, and the secondary 24-hour PM10 standard; and revise the air quality index and monitoring requirements for the PM NAAQS.