Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 21, 2023

Enacting strong regulations on chemicals by class , rather than individually, can help protect people and the environment from serious harm while still making sure that scientific integrity is upheld and the best available science guides the process. Fortunately, EPA has begun a slow pivot toward assessing multiple chemicals at once.

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Environment, Law, and History

AUGUST 3, 2022

The archival record of its early years reveals the extent to which efforts to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations interacted closely with one of the most hotly debated political issues of the mid-twentieth century: urban air pollution. The precise nature of CO2 as an air pollutant, however, was difficult to pin down.

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Carbon Dioxide Air Pollution Atmosphere Environmental Science 52

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

It was a big step towards providing adequate health protections, but Environmental regulations need to look at people, not just pollutants—and the way to get there is by assessing cumulative impacts. However, since major US environmental laws are enacted to protect the air, water, and land separately (i.e.

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Air Pollution Toxic Substances Control Act Environmental Protection Ozone 229

Law and Environment

MARCH 22, 2022

The Boston Air Pollution Control Commission has formally adopted its “Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance Phase 1 Regulations.” The Phase 1 regulations are really all about the “disclosure” side of BERDO. The final Phase 1 regulations largely track the draft released late last year.

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MGKF Law

MARCH 27, 2023

EPA’s latest rulemaking regulating Hazardous Air Pollutant (“HAP”) emissions from coal- and oil-fired electric utility steam generating units (“EGUs”) is unlikely to be an exception. Read More » Tags: Air , Clean Air Act , EPA , HAPs , Hazardous Air Pollutants , Rulemaking

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Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 15, 2024

This, along with many other chemicals, like diesel particulates and ground-level ozone that form soot and smog, and metals like lead in paint and drinking water, are regulated by the EPA to keep us safe. Project 2025 calls for all of these regulations to be reexamined. Project 2025 takes aim at all those protections.

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2025 Ground-Level Ozone Air Pollution Climate Change 327

PA Environment Daily

MAY 11, 2023

May 11, the Environmental Integrity Project and Clean Air Council filed a federal lawsuit against the Shell Petrochemical Plant for repeatedly violating permitted air pollution limits from a massive new plastics production plant in Beaver County, which opened last year. In a lawsuit filed in the U.S.

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Air Pollution Nitrogen Oxides Natural Gas Clean Air Act 98

Law and Environment

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

The Air Pollution Control Commission has authority to suspend some or all of the requirements of BERDO 2.0 upon finding that: a significant obstacle interferes with implementation or that implementation has a significant negative effect on Energy cost burdens, equitable access to housing or other factors set for in the Regulations.

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Regulations Pollution Control Air Pollution Renewable Energy 130

PA Environment Daily

JANUARY 26, 2024

District Court on Monday a proposed consent decree in settlement of their federal Clean Air Act lawsuit against United States Steel Corporation. Clean air is a right, not a privilege, for all Pittsburghers,” said David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment , the citizen-based non-profit and state group for Environment America.

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Air Pollution Clean Air Act Pollution Control 2018 112

Greenbuilding Law

JULY 4, 2021

With that wide public sentiment for fireworks, there is actually almost no environmental regulation for the setting off of millions of little explosions of the more than 99% of fireworks imported from China. But, San Diego does regulate fireworks for locations near the coast, requiring expensive permits (.

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Air Pollution Particle Pollution Regulations Clean Water Act 52

Law Columbia

MAY 28, 2021

Building electrification requirements – at times called “natural gas bans,” including on this blog – are subject to a complicated interplay of federal, state and local law, and many local governments have been found or determined themselves to be preempted from one or more approaches.

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Air Pollution Regulations Fossil Fuels Natural Gas 56

Legal Planet

JANUARY 10, 2023

There are Supreme Court cases going back a century or more dealing with what we would now consider environmental issues such as preserving nature or air pollution. It was only once that shift was made that we could begin to think of contaminated rivers, smog, and clearcutting as part of the same body of law. Justice William O.

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Air Pollution Clean Air Act Clean Water Act Law 130

Legal Planet

JUNE 27, 2024

Months ago, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an “emergency” request to stay EPA’s new rule regulating interstate air pollution. A Supreme Court case called EME Homer upheld EPA’s general approach to regulating interstate air pollution. By law, that suit had to be brought in the D.C.

Air Pollution 195

Air Pollution Regulations Ozone Government 195

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 9, 2024

To explore a small piece of what is at stake, let’s take a quick look at some of the rules currently under review at the EPA: Air emission reporting requirements If finalized and implemented, this rule will improve the way air pollution emissions are estimated and collected by the EPA.

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Toxic Substances Control Act Air Pollution Regulations Clean Air Act 297

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 10, 2023

Burning gas and coal leads to carbon dioxide emissions and air pollutants. Air pollutants contribute to all of the leading causes of death, such as heart disease, strokes, cancer, and respiratory illness. Now we have increasing evidence air pollution contributes to dementia as well.

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Air Pollution Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Climate Change 237

Environmental News Bits

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

A citizens’ group in West Virginia is suing the Environmental Protection Agency, alleging that federal regulators have failed to protect a majority-Black community in the state and residents of parts of Louisiana and Texas from cancer-causing chemicals.

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Air Pollution Environmental Protection Regulations 2021 45

Legal Planet

JUNE 28, 2024

For example, there’s a current challenge to EPA’s waiver under the Clean Air Act for the Air Resources Board’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulations (ACT), which require that zero-emission trucks represent an increasing proportion of in-state heavy-duty truck sales. (A

Clean Air Act 237

Clean Air Act Regulations Climate Change Air Pollution 237

Legal Planet

SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

The California Legislature recently enacted, and Governor Gavin Newsom last week signed into law, two major housing reform measures. SB 9 and SB 10 represent California’s most transformative new housing laws in decades, and are a belated but welcome legislative response to the state’s longstanding housing crisis.

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Law Government Air Pollution Politics 147

PA Environment Daily

OCTOBER 12, 2024

Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) announced plans to introduce legislation to prohibit municipalities from receiving Act 13 drilling impact fees if they set more protective standards on the development of natural gas than required in state or federal law and while a challenge to local restrictions is being litigated. Read more here. Read more here.

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Natural Gas Fossil Fuels Law 2019 109

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 8, 2024

The principle states that, when the language of a law is ambiguous, experts at federal agencies can interpret it to create rules to implement and enforce the law. In SEC v Jarkesy, a 6-3 majority undermined federal agencies’ ability to enforce laws by issuing fines to individuals or organizations that break those laws.

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Law Air Pollution Environmental Protection Climate Change 329

Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 2, 2023

Robert Bullard, “environmental justice embraces the principle that all people and communities have a right to equal protection and equal enforcement of environmental laws and regulations.” A myriad of studies since have validated these findings across a number of exposures, such as soot air pollution (PM2.5

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Air Pollution Clean Air Act Clean Water Act Fossil Fuels 354

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

In a major win for community members in South Memphis, Tennessee, a facility emitting a toxic air pollutant— ethylene oxide (EtO)—announced late last month that it will close its doors. Community members quickly came together and a local grassroots group, Memphis Community Against Pollution (MCAP), began to sound the alarm.

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Air Pollution Clean Air Act Regulations 2024 275

Legal Planet

MAY 24, 2024

Catastrophic wildfires are fueling complex and extensive public health impacts, including air pollution-related mortality and a growing toll on mental health. Wildfire smoke presents a population-wide health risk in California.

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Air Pollution Regulations Climate Change Government 130

Legal Planet

MARCH 15, 2023

Several cities in California, including Los Angeles and in the Bay Area, have outlawed new gas hookups, but these are the first regulations that would effectively ban the sale of gas appliances. Furnaces and water heaters are even bigger polluters, with major contributions to outdoor air pollution in the Bay Area.

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Nitrogen Oxides Air Pollution Ozone 2029 253

Greenbuilding Law

AUGUST 20, 2023

As directed by a state law enacted in 2021, as HB 1286, the Colorado Health Department’s Air Pollution Control Division developed the newly finalized standards. However, the regulation is being applauded for providing flexibility for building owners and various pathways for meeting the standards.

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Law 2026 Pollution Control 2030 52

PA Environment Daily

MAY 18, 2022

million penalty and make extensive improvements at its steel production facility in Braddock, Pennsylvania, as part of a settlement covering longstanding air pollution violations. Settlements like this serve notice to companies that they must follow the law to keep workers and neighbors healthy and safe.”

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Air Pollution Pollution Control Clean Air Act 2016 52

Legal Planet

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Cost-benefit analysis is required for all major regulations. A: A few laws explicitly require cost-benefit analysis or at least something along those lines. Those laws are a minority. Q: How does an agency determine the cost of a regulation? Economists as well as OIRA would count that as a benefit of the regulation.

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Carbon Monoxide Regulations Law Conservation 285

Legal Planet

AUGUST 26, 2021

The same is true in environmental law. Was it a fundamental paradigm shift, re-centering the law on new values? With all this in mind, here are the cases that I see as making up the canon and anti-canons of environmental law. The Court then held that greenhouse gases are covered by the Clean Air Act as a type of air pollutant.

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Clean Air Act Endangered Species Act Regulations Air Pollution 246

PA Environment Daily

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

PA Bulletin, page 7270 ) Air Quality Permits -- Mountain Gathering, LLC - Jefferson Compressor Station: DEP invites comments on an Air Quality Plan Approval covering multiple sources of air pollution at the facility located in Jefferson Twp., You’ll also get notice of new technical guidance documents and regulations.

Air Pollution 114

Air Pollution Natural Gas 2024 Waste 114

Law Columbia

JUNE 22, 2022

On June 13, 2022, Chile published its Climate Change Framework Law (“the Climate Act”). The country meets seven of the nine criteria, including an extensive low-lying coastline, areas prone to natural disasters, areas susceptible to drought and desertification, and urban areas with high air pollution. Conclusions.

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Climate Change Law Government Air Pollution 103

Legal Planet

AUGUST 18, 2022

The closest we’ve ever come to a carbon tax is a limited fee on methane emissions under the new IRA law. Economists like carbon taxes better than regulations, and environmental justice advocates like them better than cap and trade. State law and federal bonding requirements have not proved equal to the task of clean up.

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Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Politics Air Pollution 247

Law and Environment

DECEMBER 23, 2021

On Monday, Boston released a draft of the first phase of regulations intended to implement the amended BERDO ordinance signed by then-Mayor Janey in October. . The first phase of the regulations is focused only on reporting issues. The “informal” public comment period on the draft regulations will remain open until January 14.

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Pollution Control Regulations Air Pollution Natural Gas 130

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

Switching from fossil fuels like gasoline to increasingly clean electricity sources is vital for hitting climate and air pollution goals. These regulations (both state and federal) that UCS has advocated for have saved drivers money and reduced emissions.

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Carbon Dioxide 2005 Electricity Nitrogen Oxides 186

Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

However, goods movement through the Ports is a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the L.A. The South Coast Air Quality Management District has reported that the Ports are “the single largest fixed source of air pollution in Southern California.”

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Air Pollution 2030 Greenhouse Fossil Fuels 147

Legal Planet

JUNE 30, 2022

CT , the Supreme Court said this: We hold that the Clean Air Act and the EPA actions it authorizes displace any federal common law right to seek abatement of carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel fired power plants. And, most relevant here, §7411(d) then requires regulation of existing sources within the same category.

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Carbon Dioxide 2011 Air Pollution Clean Air Act 130

Law Columbia

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

A new Sabin Center report, Cities Climate Law: A Legal Framework for Local Action in the U.S. , by Amy Turner and Michael Burger, offers a comprehensive guide for local law- and policy-makers in developing climate programs that consider and comport with federal and state law.

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Law Greenhouse Air Pollution Waste 60

Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 2, 2024

The Section 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit (“45V”), passed as part of 2022’s landmark climate investment law , was specifically designed to spur the shift away from today’s dirty methods of hydrogen production to truly clean production processes instead. As the 45V rules are finalized, regulators must stay the course.

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Carbon Emissions Clean Energy Electricity Air Pollution 166