Climate Debates Finally Producing Regulatory Action

While climate policy debates have produced little actual regulation in the United States thus far, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) now faces regulatory and permitting decisions that will produce new mandates on greenhouse gas (GHG)-emitting facilities and activities. Some states — notably California — have already enacted comprehensive legislation and regulations.

This Web conference covered significant federal and state activities likely to produce new global climate legal mandates in the near future, including:

• Massachusetts and its co-petitioners won their major Supreme Court victory last year, but EPA has yet to make the required “endangerment” finding under the Clean Air Act (CAA).
• Massachusetts has filed a Mandamus Petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in an effort to require EPA to issue its endangerment finding within 60 days.
• EPA has announced its intent to address the Supreme Court mandate through a new “Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” (ANPR), scheduled for release in June 2008.
• The Deseret Power CAA permit appeal has been argued before EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). A ruling in favor of the petitioners could force EPA to consider CO² as a regulated pollutant in future CAA permit reviews.
• A “sleeper” legislative amendment late last year requires EPA to issue regulations for mandatory GHG emission reporting “from all sectors of the economy.”
• EPA has denied California’s request for a CAA waiver to enable the state to impose stringent GHG motor vehicle emission controls.
• California has enacted climate legislation that would regulate a multitude of stationary and mobile sources under a “cap and trade” regime.

About the Environmental Web Conference Series
The Environmental Law Update Web Conference Series provides participants with needed information in the most efficient manner possible — only a telephone line and Internet access are required to participate. Environmental leaders can stay up-to-date with timely information from anywhere in the nation.

For more information or to obtain CLE credit, please contact Honey Campagna at [email protected].

For questions regarding this program, please direct them to Foley Partner Linda E. Benfield at [email protected].