FWS announced findings on the status of the gopher tortoise rangewide and in the eastern (east of the Mobile and Tombigbee Rivers) and western (west of the Mobile and Tombigbee Rivers) portions of the range under the ESA; the agency found that listing the gopher tortoise as an endangered or threatened species was not warranted.
SIP Proposal: North Carolina (updates to incorporation by reference of federal new source review regulations and federal guidelines on air quality modeling, and revisions to PSD elements for the 2015 ozone NAAQS).
EPA proposed to revise the Federal Air Rules for Reservations (FARR) to clarify aspects of the initial rules, improve implementation, reflect air quality improvement strategies similar to those implemented in neighboring jurisdictions, and add provisions to address high levels of particulate matter emissions, as well as promulgate three new federal implementation plans implementing the FARR for the Snoqualmie Indian Reservation, the Cowlitz Indian Reservation, and the lands held in trust for the Samish Indian Nation.
EPA issued calendar year 2023 allowances for the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons in accordance with the Agency’s regulations as established in the 2021 final rule titled Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Establishing the Allowance Allocation and Trading Program under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act.
DOE announced the availability of its request for information on the Defense Production Act (DPA), which will inform how the DPA authority provided to DOE through presidential determinations could best be used as a tool to accelerate manufacturing and deployment of clean energy technologies to bolster national defense, tackle climate change and environmental justice, and improve employment opportunities and broader economic prosperity for Americans; the request focuses on transformers and critical electric grid components; solar photovoltaics; insulation materials; and electrolyzers, platinum group metals, and fuel cells for clean hydrogen.
United States v. Dover Chemical Corp., No. 5:17-cv-02335 (N.D. Ohio Oct. 3, 2022). A settling CERCLA defendant must implement projects that will restore and protect 28.5 acres of wetlands in Stark County and protect 195 acres of riparian habitat in Tuscarawas, Jefferson, Columbiana, and/or Belmont counties, pay $880,000 to Ohio to fund projects near the Dover Chemical Corporation Superfund site to protect, restore, or enhance state groundwater resources, and pay for costs incurred by Ohio and the United States to assess injuries to natural resources associated with the site.
SIP Approval: Colorado (finalizing EPA conclusions that Colorado's infrastructure SIP submission meets the state’s good neighbor obligations and provides “necessary assurances” of the state’s authority to regulate agricultural sources).
DOE seeks information to enhance their ability to plan and implement strategies for improving the resilience of systems that deliver electric power, which will be used to ascertain the best available resources and approach for carrying out a technical assistance program under the Infrastructure Improvement and Jobs Act of 2021.
EPA finalized actions pursuant to §181(b)(2) of the CAA for most remaining areas in the country classified as “serious” for the 2008 eight-hour ozone NAAQS of 0.075 parts per million, determining one serious area attained the standards by the applicable attainment date and that five serious areas failed to attain the standards by the applicable attainment date.
EPA finalized three types of CAA actions related to 28 areas classified as “marginal” for the 2015 ozone NAAQS, determining that five marginal areas attained the standards by the applicable attainment date; granting a one-year attainment date extension for the Uinta Basin, Utah nonattainment area; and determining that 22 marginal areas or portions of areas failed to attain the standards by the applicable attainment date.