Clean Air Act

PART III – EPA’s Proposed 111(d) Rule: Some Insights & Open Legal Questions

The third in a series of posts offering some initial insights and observations, and posing several open legal questions for conversation

This is the third in a series of posts offering some initial insights and observations, and posing several open legal questions related to EPA’s proposed 111(d) rule.  (See the first and second posts.) Over the course of this series, I welcome our knowledgeable and insightful LegalPlanet audience to join the dialogue in the comments. What …

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Legislative Tantrums Over EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule

Politico reports that eight state legislatures have passed bills protesting EPA’s proposed power plant regulation,  in at least one case refusing to comply with any eventual regulations.  This was a childish tantrum rather than an adult response.   The ultimate hope, according to Politico, is that many states will refuse to submit compliance plans, and that this …

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Obamacare’s lessons for the future of EPA’s CO2 rule

The survival of the greenhouse gas rule depends on how much people invest based on it

There has (rightly) been a lot of attention paid to the EPA proposed rule controlling greenhouse gas emissions from powerplants pursuant to Clean Air Act Section 111(d). All of that analysis – how effective the rule will be; how it will be implemented; the prospects for successful legal challenges to the rule – is important. …

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Judicial “Smoke Signals” and the 111(d) Rule

In an earlier post, I suggested that EPA’s decision about how broadly to write the final version of the 111(d) rule might be affected by the Supreme Court’s decision in the pending UARG case.  I made the suggestion without much explanation, and it apparently didn’t come across very clearly.  So I thought it would be worth …

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EPA Releases Section 111(d) Rule for Existing Power Plants

Rule would reduce climate change-related carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030

Today, EPA formally released its long-awaited rule to regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants under Clean Air Act § 111(d).  Read the full text of the rule here. As leaked to the media yesterday, the rule would have the overall effect of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from electric generating units (EGUs, or power plants) 30 percent …

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EPA’s Proposed Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rules Are Remarkably Business-friendly

Business wins on baseline year, flexible compliance methods will keep costs down

President Obama’s EPA will tomorrow issue proposed greenhouse gas limits for existing power plants.  By all accounts the rules will be a remarkable step forward in the fight against global warming, with the U.S. finally demonstrating significant leadership on an issue on which it has lagged behind for more than a decade.  And yet from …

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Obama’s Clean Air Act 111d Rules Are Legally Required, Not an End Run Around Congress

Massachusetts v. EPA triggered the President’s Action

On Monday, President Obama is expected to release proposed regulations to cut carbon emissions from existing power plants.  Leaks to date suggest that the rules, which will cover 40 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, will be ambitious and far-reaching, requiring cuts of approximately 20 percent from the electricity sector. We can already anticipate …

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Guest Blogger Kate Konschnik: EPA’s 111(d) Authority – Follow Homer and Avoid the Sirens

Kate Konschnik is the Director of Harvard Law School’s Environmental Policy Initiative. The views expressed in this blog post are her own. Thirty years ago, Chevron v. NRDC set the standard for judicial deference to an agency’s statutory interpretation. In that case, the Supreme Court upheld EPA’s interpretation of Clean Air Act language. This month, …

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Deconstructing Today’s U.S. Supreme Court Arguments in Utility Air Regulatory Group

The EPA Could Well Lose This Challenge to Its Greenhouse Gas Reduction Efforts

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in the most important environmental law case of the current Term: Utility Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency. Based on those arguments–and, more importantly, the justices’ questions and comments–it appears that EPA’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from stationary sources under the Clean Air Act’s …

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Previewing Next Week’s Climate Change Arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court

Big Stakes and Big Players in This Year’s Biggest Environmental Case

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the biggest environmental law case of its current Term, Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA. Legal Planet colleagues Ann Carlson and Dan Farber have already posted their thoughts on the case. Let me add mine. Utility Air Regulatory Group involves EPA’s authority to regulate stationary …

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