The D.C. Circuit denied petitions to review FERC's approval of a project that would expand service on a natural gas pipeline running from western Pennsylvania to the New York metropolitan area. A nonprofit group argued FERC's EIS failed to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from upstream drilli...
The U.S. Supreme Court, 5-4, granted three states' and several industry groups' applications to stay enforcement of EPA's 2023 rule issuing a federal implementation plan (FIP) for 23 states whose SIPs the Agency determined had failed to adequately address new air quality standards for ozone levels u...
On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule imposing a stricter limit for the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). The annual exposure standard for PM2.5, currently set at 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air, will now be 9 micrograms per cubic meter, marking the first time in over eight years that EPA has strengthened any NAAQS. The rule is predicted to have many health benefits, such as preventing 4,500 premature deaths by 2032, which may particularly affect overburdened communities.
The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, reversed summary judgment for the Forest Service in a challenge to its approval of a mineral exploration project on land in Inyo National Forest. Environmental groups argued the Service violated NEPA by combining two categorical exclusions (CEs) when neither alone could be in...
The D.C. Circuit rejected challenges to renewable fuels standards EPA set for 2020, 2021, and 2022. Cellulosic biofuel producers argued the standards were set too low, and petroleum refiners argued they were set too high. Specifically, the biofuel producers argued EPA misinterpreted or unreasonably ...