Natural Resources Defense Council v. Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit vacated an EPA guidance document addressing obligations of regions still in nonattainment of the 1997 one-hour ozone NAAQS. The guidance binds EPA regional directors and thus qualifies as final agency action. As such, it amounts to a legislative rule issued in violation of the ...
Natural Resources Defense Council v. South Coast Air Quality Management District
The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of an environmental group's CAA claim challenging an air quality district's method for offsetting emissions increases in its new source review permit program. The district's regulation, contained in the state's EPA-approved SIP, requires that most increase...
SPS Ltd. Partnership, LLLP v. Severstal Sparrows Point, LLC
A district court granted in part and denied in part motions to dismiss a shipyard owner's CERCLA, RCRA, and tort law claims against the current owner of a steel mill. The court denied motions to dismiss the shipyard's CERCLA claims for contribution and response costs. The complaint contains factual ...
Hurricanes, Oil Spills, and Discrimination, Oh My: The Story of the Mississippi Cottage
Immediately following Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi Governor’s Commission for Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal collaborated with the Congress for the New Urbanism to generate rebuilding proposals for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. One of the ideas to emerge from this partnership was the Katrina Cottage—a small home that could improve upon the FEMA trailer.
Domestic Mitigation of Black Carbon From Diesel Emissions
Black carbon, a component of soot and particulate matter, competes closely with methane as the largest anthropogenic contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. Regulation of black carbon has been identified as an affordable, politically feasible, fast-action means to mitigate the warming temperatures caused by climate change.
Stacking Opportunities and Risks in Environmental Credit Markets
Environmental credit markets for mitigating impacts to wetlands, endangered species, water quality, and carbon emissions have been established throughout the United States. Recently, there has been much debate about whether a conservation project should be allowed to produce credits for multiple markets, a practice broadly referred to as credit stacking.
Aiken County
The D.C. Circuit dismissed petitions for review challenging DOE's attempt to withdraw its application to NRC for a license to construct a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as well as its apparent decision to abandon development of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste reposito...
Greenhouse Gas Regulation Under the Clean Air Act: Structure, Effects, and Implications of a Knowable Pathway
Absent legislative intervention, CAA regulation of GHGs is moving beyond mobile sources to the industrial and power facilities that emit significant U.S. GHG emissions. The authors analyze the mechanisms available to EPA for regulating such sources, and identify one, NSPS, as the most predictable, likely, and practical, i.e., knowable, pathway. Indeed, EPA announced in late 2010 that it intends to pursue this pathway.