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Texas Requests Fifth Circuit Review of US EPA Action

On Wednesday, Texas asked the Fifth Circuit to review an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision requiring it to tighten air pollution regulations governing large industrial pollution sources, including power plants.  The EPA’s decision was based on the finding that portions of Texas’s previously approved state implementation plan do not meet the requirements of the Clean Air...

EPA Mercury Emissions Rule Blocked

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the EPA’s mercury and air toxins emissions rules which have been in effect since 2011.  In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that the EPA acted “unreasonably” by foregoing a cost analysis when regulating emissions under the Clean Air Act. Please click here for more information.

EPA Finalizes Definition of Waters to be Covered under the Clean Water Act

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers finalized a redefinition of the “Waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act.  The EPA did so without consulting stakeholders, including rural electric cooperatives.  The EPA maintains that it is not required to consult stakeholders, or to conduct small business analysis under the Regulatory Flexibility Act before...

Midwest Coops Support Increased Regional Planning

Representatives from two large generation and transmission cooperatives, Minnesota’s Great River Energy and Indiana’s Hoosier Energy, urged state and federal leaders to engage in more coordination at the regional level at a recent conference sponsored by the Midwestern Governors Association.  Coops suggested, among other things, that plans to comply with new Clean Air Act regulations...

High Court Hands Down Mixed Decision on EPA’s Power

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violated the Clean Air Act when it expanded two permitting programs to include carbon dioxide emissions, and that the EPA misinterpreted the Clean Air Act when it concluded that a source’s greenhouse gas emissions can trigger permitting requirements under the law’s Title V or Prevention of Significant...

U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Controversy Over EPA Haze Authority

The U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions from North Dakota and Oklahoma challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decisions to prioritize the respective states’ emissions control plans in favor of a federal plan.  In separate cases, the states claimed that the EPA’s action undermines the state-federal relationship outlined by the Clean Air Act.  For more on the cases...

U.S. Supreme Court Resuscitates EPA’s Cross-State Air Rule

The U.S. Supreme Court resurrected the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of air pollution crossing state borders through its 6-2 ruling in favor of the EPA, downwind states, and public health and environmental groups.  The Court ruled that the government did not violate the Clean Air Act when it implemented a federal scheme for emissions that drift over state lines. ...

North Dakota Joins EPA Haze Authority Case

North Dakota has filed a petition for certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court hoping to prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from denouncing the state’s emissions control plan in favor of a federal plan.  Specifically, the petition argues that the EPA does not have the authority to review and replace state implementation plans for the Clean Air Act’s Regional Haze...

EPA Continues Work on Carbon Rule

The Environmental Protection Agency is continuing its efforts to issue a draft carbon rule by June 1, 2014.  The new rule, which will be issued under the Clean Air Act and based on a 2007 Supreme Court decision, will regulate carbon emissions from existing power facilities.  Click here for the full story.  See the Sutherland Coop Team’s October 29, 2013, post for more on the...

Coops Urge EPA to Slow Down Carbon Rule for Existing Plants

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) first “listening session” for its pending Clean Air Act emissions standards had a strong showing from coops.  The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, along with individual coops from three states, proposed a fair solution that recognizes the billions of dollars already invested by coops to clean up existing plants and allows...

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