Air Pollution, Pollution Control, Regulations and Technology - Environmental Professionals Connection

State Air Regulations Can Go Above and Beyond National Standards

Legal Planet

AUGUST 22, 2023

States and local air quality regulators have the legal authority to set particulate matter (PM), ozone, and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions standards and adopt regulations for these pollutants when they are already in attainment of the national ambient air quality standards ( NAAQS ) set by the U.S.

Regulations

Regulations Ozone Air Pollution Clean Air Act

How to Get to Zero Emissions at the Ports

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.”

Air Pollution

Air Pollution 2030 Greenhouse Fossil Fuels

Cars, Smog, and EPA

Legal Planet

AUGUST 24, 2023

This is part of an occasional series of posts about the evolution of pollution standards. Today’s subject is pollution control for new vehicles, which have been known to cause smog since the 1960s. The history of these pollution standards is quite distinctive. Congress adjusted the standards twice.

Ground-Level Ozone

Ground-Level Ozone Pollution Control Clean Air Act Ozone

EPA Finalizes Rule To Reduce Methane Emissions From Oil & Gas Infrastructure; DEP’s Oil & Gas Methane Regulations 1 Year Old

PA Environment Daily

DECEMBER 2, 2023

Note: In December, 2022, DEP finalized regulations reducing volatile organic compounds and methane from existing conventional and unconventional oil and gas facilities. Note: In December, 2022, DEP finalized regulations reducing volatile organic compounds and methane from existing conventional and unconventional oil and gas facilities.

Regulations

Regulations Air Pollution Natural Gas Carbon Dioxide

The Gas Utility Industry is Gaslighting Us

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 11, 2024

Certainly, gas stoves are just one source of air pollution in the District. Gas stoves, which are in 38 percent of US households, not only emit methane, but also toxic pollutants besides NO2 that are associated with respiratory ailments and cancer. Where did the gas industry pick up the finer points of PR disinformation?

2013

2013 Electricity Natural Gas Fossil Fuels

EPA Proposes Rejection of San Joaquin Valley Air District PM2.5 SIP Submittal

Legal Planet

OCTOBER 26, 2022

discussing the ways in which local air districts can take action to end harmful air pollution from building appliances. Local gas bans and an ongoing process to set zero-NOx appliance emission standards in the Bay Area Air Quality Management District all played into EPA’s analysis. Download as PDF.

Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act Air Pollution Ozone Pollution Control

(Mis)Estimating Regulatory Costs

Legal Planet

MARCH 21, 2022

But this seemingly simple calculation turns out to be riddled with uncertainties, particularly when you’re talking about regulating the energy industry. Those uncertainties need more attention in designing regulations. That’s because figuring out what the regulation actually cost is tricky.

2011

2011 Regulations Natural Gas Pollution Control

Catch 22 at the Supreme Court

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. Massachusetts made plain that emissions of carbon dioxide qualify as air pollution subject to regulation under the Act.

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon Dioxide 2011 Air Pollution Clean Air Act

Defending EPA’s Authority to Fight Climate Change – at the Supreme Court

Legal Planet

JANUARY 25, 2022

EPA in defense of EPA’s authority to effectively regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. The case involves a group of challenges to EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing stationary sources under the 1970 Clean Air Act, a monumental piece of environmental and public health legislation.

Climate Change

Climate Change Clean Air Act Air Pollution Paris Agreement

EPA’s Power Plant Carbon Rules Are Critical—and Complex. Here’s What to Know, and What to Watch.

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 20, 2023

Which means the consequences of these polluters unabashedly continuing to pollute aren’t just severe—they’re compounding. The IRA gave us effective tools for cleaning up the power sector through dedicated support for the rapid and widescale deployment of renewable resources and the technologies that support them.

Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act Fossil Fuels Carbon Emissions Clean Energy

Guest Essay: DEP Should Invest $33.6 Million In New Federal Funding Wisely To Plug Conventional Oil & Gas Wells And Not Reward The Industry For Bad Behavior

PA Environment Daily

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

That rule, which will be finalized later this year, currently proposes a requirement that gas companies regularly monitor pollution from all gas wells until they are successfully plugged. This funding gives gas drilling companies the opportunity to plug wells before they are required to monitor their air pollution.

Natural Gas

Natural Gas Air Pollution Technology Technology

EQB Adopts Part I Of Final Regulation Reducing Oil & Gas VOC/Methane Emissions; DEP Documents 80% Of Methane Emissions Come From Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities

PA Environment Daily

JUNE 14, 2022

On June 14, the Environmental Quality Board voted 15 to 3, with one abstention, to adopt Part I of a revised final regulation reducing volatile organic compounds and methane emissions from just unconventional (shale gas) wells and facilities. Representatives of Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) and Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) and John St.

Regulations

Regulations Radiation Ozone Pollution Control

Allegheny County Health Dept. Releases Air Quality Annual Review Covering 2021

PA Environment Daily

AUGUST 15, 2022

On August 15, the Allegheny County Health Department released an Air Quality Annual Review covering accomplishments in 2021. Bogen wrote this introduction to the report-- In 2021, ACHD expanded and implemented new technology and programs and completed some long-term studies that will inform our future. Dr. Debra L.

2021

2021 Air Pollution Pollution Control Regulations

The evolution of US NOx standards for cars

Environment, Law, and History

AUGUST 27, 2023

Dan Farber at Legal Planet recently posted on "Cars, Smog, and EPA" An excerpt: For the first 20 years of federal regulation, Congress set the NOx [nitrogen oxides] standards for new cars itself. That’s quite different from the standards for industrial pollution sources, which Congress has always delegated to EPA.

Nitrogen Oxides

Nitrogen Oxides Clean Air Act Pollution Control 2004

Colorado Law Will Lead the Nation in Reducing GHGs from Buildings

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.

Law

Law 2026 Pollution Control 2030

EPA Announces $1.35 Million Penalty, Settlement With Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Over Clean Air Act Violations

PA Environment Daily

JANUARY 24, 2023

and numerous affiliated companies (collectively, GWRSI) for violation of Clean Air Act (CAA) locomotive regulations. EPA regulations require that rebuilt locomotive engines use the latest technology (for that model year locomotive) to reduce emissions.

Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act Nitrogen Oxides Ozone Pollution Control

Environmental Quality Board Approves Final Rule Reducing VOC/Methane Emissions From Oil & Gas Operations; Conventional Drillers Oppose

PA Environment Daily

MARCH 15, 2022

On March 15, the Environmental Quality Board voted 17 to 2 to approve the final regulation reducing VOC/methane emissions from oil and natural gas operations. Representatives of the conventional oil and gas industry voted against the regulation. A representative of the unconventional shale gas industry voted for the regulation.

Regulations

Regulations Natural Gas Pollution Control Air Pollution

2021-2022 California Environmental Legislation: What’s Been Enacted?

Legal Planet

OCTOBER 10, 2022

To meet these goals, the state is facilitating burgeoning carbon capture and sequestration (or storage) (CCS) technologies that capture carbon from point sources to store, as well as carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which removes carbon from the atmosphere.

2021

2021 2022 Sea Level Clean Energy

EPA: Pennsylvania One Of 45 States, MSAs To Submit Priority Climate Action Plans As Part Of $5 Billion Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program

PA Environment Daily

MARCH 12, 2024

DEP said it has the statutory authority in the 1995 law that created the agency, the state Air Pollution Control Act and other laws to establish grant and funding programs to implement the Plan. Pennsylvania’s Climate Action Priority Plan is available online. Visit DEP’s Priority Climate Action Plan webpage for more information.

Natural Gas

Natural Gas Clean Energy Electricity Renewable Energy

Sabin Center Files Amicus Brief in Support of New GHG Vehicle Emissions Standards

Law Columbia

MARCH 13, 2023

EPA , the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has regulated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act. This blog post summarizes the history of federal vehicle emissions regulations, the arguments made by Petitioners in Texas v. billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act Air Pollution Climate Change Regulations

EPA Releases White Paper For Comment On Reducing Climate Pollution From New Natural Gas-Fired Electric Generation

PA Environment Daily

APRIL 21, 2022

The draft white paper presents information on the performance of state-of-the-art combustion turbine technologies and describes additional opportunities for GHG emission cuts. States and the public may also find the white paper useful to inform state-level actions to combat climate change and individual permitting considerations.

Natural Gas

Natural Gas Electricity Clean Air Act Pollution Control

IRRC Unanimously Approves Part I Of Final Reg. Reducing VOC/Methane Emissions From Unconventional Shale Gas Facilities; DEP Moves To Avoid Federal Highway Funding Sanctions

PA Environment Daily

JULY 21, 2022

On July 21, the Independent Regulatory Review Commission voted unanimously 5 to 0 to approve Part I of final Environmental Quality Board regulations reducing volatile organic compounds and methane emissions from unconventional (shale gas) wells and facilities. The Preamble to the revised rulemaking says “.

Regulations

Regulations Radiation Ozone Pollution Control

U.S. Supreme Court v. EPA Climate Rule

Smith Enviorment

JULY 12, 2022

Supreme Court issued a decision striking down an Obama era rule regulating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing power plants. EPA held the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan Rule exceeded EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act. July 12, 2022 — On June 30, the U.S. The decision in West Virginia v.

Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act Greenhouse Natural Gas Politics

Improving EPA’s Latest Ozone Transport Rule

Acoel

JUNE 29, 2022

Units with existing advanced NOx controls must optimize their utilization by 2023. In 2020, sources in both the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) NOX annual program and the A(cid) R(ain) P(rogram) together emitted 0.78 million tons, a reduction of 5.1 million tons, or 87 percent, from 1995 levels.

Ozone

Ozone Clean Air Act 2026 2015

French company to coordinate carbon capture project in Brazil

Corp Watch

MARCH 8, 2024

million for air pollution in 2007, and then $8.75 in 2022 References: Gigantic sleaze scandal winds up as former Elf oil chiefs are jailed - Total to pay $15 mln to settle US false claims case Six Texas Oil Refineries Are Among the Nation’s Worst Benzene Polluters, Data Shows Total to pay $2.9 million in 2013. Total settles U.S.

2013

2013 2007 Fossil Fuels Government

Environmental Perspectives

Environmental Science

JULY 30, 2018

Environmental regulation. EPA and agencies have dozens of guidance documents and regulations about analytical methods to be used for environmental samples. Based on regulations and scientific knowledge, commercial laboratories have an established suite of chemicals they typically look for in environmental samples. Limitations.

Clean Water Act

Clean Water Act Waste Clean Air Act Regulations

Environmental Professionals Connection

State Air Regulations Can Go Above and Beyond National Standards

How to Get to Zero Emissions at the Ports

Trending Sources

Cars, Smog, and EPA

EPA Finalizes Rule To Reduce Methane Emissions From Oil & Gas Infrastructure; DEP’s Oil & Gas Methane Regulations 1 Year Old

The Gas Utility Industry is Gaslighting Us

EPA Proposes Rejection of San Joaquin Valley Air District PM2.5 SIP Submittal

(Mis)Estimating Regulatory Costs

Catch 22 at the Supreme Court

Defending EPA’s Authority to Fight Climate Change – at the Supreme Court

EPA’s Power Plant Carbon Rules Are Critical—and Complex. Here’s What to Know, and What to Watch.

Guest Essay: DEP Should Invest $33.6 Million In New Federal Funding Wisely To Plug Conventional Oil & Gas Wells And Not Reward The Industry For Bad Behavior

EQB Adopts Part I Of Final Regulation Reducing Oil & Gas VOC/Methane Emissions; DEP Documents 80% Of Methane Emissions Come From Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities

Allegheny County Health Dept. Releases Air Quality Annual Review Covering 2021

The evolution of US NOx standards for cars

Colorado Law Will Lead the Nation in Reducing GHGs from Buildings

EPA Announces $1.35 Million Penalty, Settlement With Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Over Clean Air Act Violations

Environmental Quality Board Approves Final Rule Reducing VOC/Methane Emissions From Oil & Gas Operations; Conventional Drillers Oppose

2021-2022 California Environmental Legislation: What’s Been Enacted?

EPA: Pennsylvania One Of 45 States, MSAs To Submit Priority Climate Action Plans As Part Of $5 Billion Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program

Sabin Center Files Amicus Brief in Support of New GHG Vehicle Emissions Standards

EPA Releases White Paper For Comment On Reducing Climate Pollution From New Natural Gas-Fired Electric Generation

IRRC Unanimously Approves Part I Of Final Reg. Reducing VOC/Methane Emissions From Unconventional Shale Gas Facilities; DEP Moves To Avoid Federal Highway Funding Sanctions

U.S. Supreme Court v. EPA Climate Rule

Improving EPA’s Latest Ozone Transport Rule

French company to coordinate carbon capture project in Brazil

Environmental Perspectives

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