By Jeryl L. Olson and Craig B. Simonsen

The Illinois Pollution Control Board just rejected Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s (IEPA) proposed “emergency” rules that would have imposed additional Statewide requirements on the handling of coke and coal, including petroleum coke or “petcoke,” at bulk terminals and other specified facilities. Opinion and Order, January 23, 2014.

The IEPA had filed
Continue Reading Illinois Pollution Control Board Rejects Emergency Rules for Coke/Coal Bulk Terminals

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

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would, under a draft of a proposed rule recently obtained by Bloomberg BNA, assert Clean Water Act jurisdiction over all natural and artificial tributary streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands that affect the chemical, physical, and
Continue Reading Draft Proposed Rule for New Definition of “Waters of the United States”

By Andrew H. Perellis and Craig B. Simonsen

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board has just released for public comment a draft scientific report, “Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence.” EPA/600/R-11/098B.

Figure 1-1 from the Report: Overview of Watershed Elements

The draft
Continue Reading New Definition of “Waters of the United States”?

By Andrew H. Perellis and Craig B. Simonsen

In City of Arlington v. Federal Communications Commission, __ U.S. ___, No. 11-1545 (May 20, 2013), the Supreme Court re-affirmed the Chevron standard for deferring to an agency interpretation of an ambiguous statute even where the agency interpretation pertains to whether the agency possesses authority to act in the first instance. 

Continue Reading Supreme Court Holds that Courts Must Defer to an Agency’s Interpretation of its Own Statutory Authority

By Jeryl L. Olson, William R. Schubert, and Eric E. Boyd

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule that would reach a new milestone for environmental regulation in the United States: substantive limits on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at the source.  The rule would apply to new fossil fuel-burning electric utility generating units
Continue Reading EPA Proposes Carbon Dioxide Limits for New Power Plants

By Philip L. Comella

On February 2, 2012, the Illinois Pollution Control Board (PCB) issued its First Notice of a Proposed Rule (FNPR) affecting the management and disposal of Clean Construction or Demolition Debris (CCDD), and “uncontaminated” soil.  Significantly, the PCB’s proposal eliminates provisions previously proposed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) requiring groundwater monitoring for fill operations accepting
Continue Reading New Illinois Proposed Rule Eliminates Groundwater Monitoring Requirement for Clean Construction and Uncontaminated Soil Fill Operations