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By Kay R. Bonza and Craig B. Simonsen

Private jet plane in the blue skySynopsis: EPA’s recent finding paves the way for the Agency to develop standards regulating greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft. Businesses in the commercial jet manufacturing and aviation transportation industry should watch this rulemaking closely, as it will affect environmental compliance costs and may have an impact on the cost of capital purchases …
Continue Reading EPA Determines that Aircraft Emissions Contribute to Air Pollution and Climate Change

By Patrick D. Joyce and Craig B. Simonsen

pumpjack, West Texas, cottonwood treeThe U.S. EPA announced earlier this week a proposed rule to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the oil and natural gas industry. The proposal is nearly 600 pages long. Proposed rule (August 18, 2015).

The proposed rule will add methane to the list of gasses…
Continue Reading Proposed Rule for Methane and VOC Controls in Oil and Gas Industry

By Patrick D. Joyce and Philip L. Comella

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued two proposed rules lowering the threshold at which landfills must control methane gas emissions.

For active landfills, EPA proposes to reduce the threshold from 50 metric tons of non-methane organic compounds annually to 34 metric tons. As a practical matter, this means that roughly 100…
Continue Reading EPA Proposes Significant Change to Controlling Landfill Gas Emissions

Ecology Earth concept word collagePhilip Comella, in a recently published article, writes about how everyone in the landfill gas industry knows how contracts are a necessary evil.

The parties understandably focus on the engineering aspects of the design; how many wells and engines to install; how to increase or extend gas production; how the gas production translates into revenue; the status of carbon…
Continue Reading Avoiding Disputes Down the Road: The Top Ten Problems With Landfill Gas Contracts

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 Patrick D. Joyce

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released a proposed rule that would update air standards for new municipal solid waste  landfills (landfills). 79 Fed. Reg. 41796 (July 17, 2014).

The Whitehouse had, earlier this year, issued an update to President Obama’s Climate Action Plan “Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions.” The update specified that in the…
Continue Reading EPA Proposes Updated Methane Limits for New Municipal Landfills and Requests Comment on Whether and How to Update Emissions Guidelines for Existing Landfills

By Andrew H. Perellis, Patrick D. Joyce, and Craig B. Simonsen

In anticipation of its proposed rule to reduce carbon emissions of existing electric power plants, expected to be released Monday, June 2, EPA just released its report Climate Change Indicators in the United States, 2014, Third Edition (Report), showing some stunning data about climate change and…
Continue Reading Only You Can Prevent Climate Change: EPA Report Shows “Impact of Changing Climate” on Health and Environment in Anticipation of Release of Proposed Coal Plant Rule

By Jeryl L. Olson and Craig B. Simonsen

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed to amend the recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reporting rule, for certain categories of reporters. 78 Fed. Reg. 55994 (September 11, 2013). The amendment is necessary to address issues surrounding use of confidential business information (CBI) as data inputs in…
Continue Reading EPA Proposes Greenhouse Gas Rule For Emissions Data Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements

By Craig B. Simonsen

We had previously blogged about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s  (EPA’s) Greenhouse Gas (GHG) “tailoring rules” for Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V permitting, and about its GHG “Endangerment Finding“. Yesterday the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled concerning both of these rulemakings. Coalition for Responsible Regulation, Et al. …

Continue Reading DC Circuit Rules on EPA Tailoring Rules and “Endangerment Finding”

By Craig B. Simonsen

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has adopted a six month extension on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reporting and other amendments that affect owners or operators of certain industrial gas suppliers, direct emitters of GHGs, and facilities that geologically sequester or otherwise inject carbon dioxide (CO2) underground. Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases, 76 FR 73886 (November…

Continue Reading Six Month Extension of the 2012 Reporting Deadline for Reporting of Greenhouse Gases