Environmental Law Update
Posts Tagged “Clean Air Act”
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EPA Misses Deadline on Setting Greenhouse Gas Limits
April 29, 2013The Environmental Protection Agency had set an April 13 deadline for itself to impose first-ever greenhouse gas limits on new power plants. The limits were proposed a year ago by EPA.
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Sixth Circuit Opens the Door to Greater EPA Involvement in Modifications to Existing Emissions Sources
March 29, 2013In a case arising in Michigan, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the EPA possesses the ability to sue to prevent construction of a modification to an emissions source when it disputes the source's emissions projections. The District Court, whose decision was hereby overturned, had held that EPA must await actual emissions results before taking action against a source whose modifications in practice have resulted in significant increased emissions. This decision dramatically decreases regulatory certainty, and thus will likely cast a chill over planned facility upgrades.
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Will the United States take Action on Climate Change?
March 6, 2013Environmentalists are looking at President Obama's latest cabinet nominations as a signal that if Congress does not address climate change he is ready to act on his own. The nomination for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Gina McCarthy, is a specialist on clean-air issues. The nominee for Secretary of the Department of Energy, Ernest Moniz, is a physicist at MIT who is known as an advocate of cleaner energy sources. Moniz is a former Under Secretary of Energy in the Clinton administration. McCarthy currently supervises air and radiation programs at EPA.
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U.S. Department of Justice Settles Air Quality Enforcement with Kellogg
November 9, 2012On October 25 the United States Department of Justice lodged a proposed Consent Decree with the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan in a the lawsuit against Kellogg USA Inc. In the underlying Complaint the United States is seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties under the Clean Air Act regarding the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V provisions of the Act, and PSD provisions of the Michigan State Implementation Plan, for violations at Kellogg's cereal and snack food manufacturing facilities in Battle Creek and Grand Rapids.
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EPA Approves Michigan’s PM 2.5 State Implementation Plan
November 8, 2012In October U.S. EPA announced final action in the Federal Register to approve most elements of Michigan's State Implementation Plan (SIP) submissions regarding the infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the 2006 24-hour fine particle (PM 2.5) national ambient air quality standards.
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Court Rejects EPA’s Test for “Aggregation” in Clean Air Permitting Decisions
August 27, 2012The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down EPA's interpretation of when operations are "located on . . . adjacent properties" and so can be aggregated for purposes of determining whether criteria for a Title V Clean Air Act permit are met.
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