Air Quality
Hunting Methane Using Satellites
Joint UC Berkeley – UCLA Law report aims to help policymakers harness the methane data revolution.
A stream of data about methane—a potent greenhouse gas—is now constantly being beamed down from space. New methane satellites provide a powerful data capability for governments who want to demonstrate leadership in climate policy. To equip policymakers with necessary information on satellite methane data, UC Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE), …
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CONTINUE READINGSenate Parliamentarian Confirms that California Waivers Are Not Subject to the Congressional Review Act
Will Republicans honor her determination?
As I have previously written, the Trump Administration is attempting an end run around the administrative process it is supposed to follow if it intends to revoke the waiver California received for three important programs to cut air pollutants from cars and trucks. You can find the details about this end run around — using …
CONTINUE READINGGetting Creative on Vehicle Emissions
UCLA Law set to host a symposium on April 9 on ways to charge ahead on cutting emissions.
These are tough times for lovers of zero emission vehicles–and clean air. I probably don’t need to recite the threats to both, but here’s a sampling: the Trump Administration has pledged to roll back federal air quality standards and mobile source emissions standards; is gutting funding for EV charging networks (and is even, maddeningly, shutting …
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CONTINUE READINGRegulatory Rollbacks: What to Expect
A replay of 2017? Or maybe something more radical? You can probably guess the answer.
Repealing and replacing existing environmental regulations will have a lower priority in this iteration of the Trump presidency – it will often be easier to just ignore the existing regulations or eliminate the regulators rather than the regulations. When it does rollback regulations, the administration will probably take more extreme legal positions and will be more likely to make constitutional arguments against environmental regulation.
CONTINUE READINGThe CRA and the filibuster
Expanding the scope of the CRA might also result in weakening the filibuster
This is the third in a series of blog posts examining the possible application of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to California’s waivers under the Clean Air Act allowing the state to issue its own emissions standards for motor vehicles. The first post is here. The second post is here. Another possible implication of applying …
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CONTINUE READINGThe CRA and permits
Applying the CRA to the California waivers might open the door to Congressional review of permits more broadly
This is the second in a series of blog posts examining the possible application of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to California’s waivers under the Clean Air Act allowing the state to issue its own emissions standards for motor vehicles. The first post is here. The basic legal question at the heart of the dispute …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat is the scope of the Congressional Review Act?
Possible implications of expanding the CRA to the California waivers, and beyond
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) provides a tool for majorities in the House and Senate, along with the President, to overturn a recently promulgated agency regulation, and to legislatively prohibit promulgation of a “substantially the same” regulation in the future. By its nature – since it requires Presidential approval of the relevant joint Congressional resolution …
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CONTINUE READINGState-Level Actions To Decarbonize Aviation
New CLEE report explores the risks of federal preemption.
Aviation is a significant and growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. But the federal government in the United States has failed to address it so far. In response, some state policy makers and advocates are now considering legal avenues to effectively require the use of sustainable aviation fuels, which emit less carbon than traditional jet …
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CONTINUE READINGLegal Safeguards Against Deregulation
Congress was aware that there could be a backlash against environmental standards. It took precautions.
If it could, no doubt the current Administration would be happy to have the same polluted air and water–and energy-wasting appliances)– that we had fifty years ago. Thanks to the anti-backsliding aspects of environmental law, however, they can’t really achieve that. The best they can generally do is to get rid of recent regulations that haven’t gone into effect yet.
CONTINUE READINGThe Legal Complexities of Deregulating Power Plant Carbon Emissions
The Supreme Court struck down Obama’s powerplant regulation. but it didn’t endorse Trump’s first try either.
We are likely to end up with a Trump rule for powerplant emissions that is much weaker than the Biden rule, but not as weak as EPA’s effort in the first Trump Administration. And the process will take Trump longer this time, with a greater litigation risk.This matters because even a very weak rule may require significant investments in improving powerplant efficiency, which could result in some plant closures.
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