Best Available Control Technology

By Robert J. Carty, Jr., Dennis A. Clifford, Philip L. Comella, A. Donald Lepore III, Esteban Shardonofsky, Clark Smith

We have just published Seyfarth Shaw’s Energy Insights Newsletter, prepared by the Energy and Clean Technologies team. It covers important developments in the second quarter of 2014 for the energy industry, including: 1) the Department of
Continue Reading Energy Insights: An Update from the Second Quarter of 2014

By Craig B. Simonsen

Janet McCabe, Acting Assistant Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, discussed yesterday’s Supreme Court opinion, and other topics, while speaking before the Air and Waste Management’s Association’s Annual Conference today.

The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court yesterday ruled, in-part, that “EPA lacked authority to ‘tailor’ the Clean Air Act’s unambiguous numerical thresholds of 100 or 250
Continue Reading McCabe Addresses Supreme Court Decision and Other Topics – EPA is “Very Pleased”

By Andrew H. Perellis, Jeryl L. Olson, and Craig B. Simonsen

The Third Circuit concludes that the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency may not force former facility owners to obtain missing preconstruction permits or to install missing pollution controls on a plant that they no longer own or operate — as it did not cry foul until more
Continue Reading Third Circuit Finds Enforcement Action Time-Barred Because the Failure to Obtain a Preconstruction Permit is Not a Continuing Violation of the Clean Air Act

By Andrew H. Perellis and Jeryl L. Olson

How much change can occur without a permit is a contentious and difficult question.

A Clean Air Act major source undergoing construction or modification needs to obtain a construction permit under 42 U.S.C. §7475(a) that would then obligate it to install best available control technology (BACT). However, mere repairs to an existing
Continue Reading USA v. Midwest Generation — Seventh Circuit Finds Enforcement Action Time-Barred Because the Failure to Obtain a PSD Construction Permit is Not a Continuing Violation of the Clean Air Act