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By Sarah Y. Dicharry

On July 20, 2013, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources amended its reporting and disclosure requirements for hydraulic fracturing stimulation operations. 39 La. Reg. 1824 (July 20, 2013). The amendment does not significantly alter the substance of the reporting requirements, but it imposes a new twenty-day reporting deadline (required by a…

By Carlos J. Moreno and Robert E. Holden

EPA’s most recent NPDES regulations for stormwater permitting of oil and gas facilities were vacated by the Ninth Circuit in 2008 and new regulations have not been promulgated. To understand the stormwater permit requirements for oil and gas activities, you need to review not only the regulations…

By Lesley Foxhall Pietras

A recent opinion by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has breathed new life into Clean Air Act Section 126(b), which allows downwind state and local governments to petition the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) for immediate relief from interstate pollution caused by a major source (or a…

By Lesley Foxhall Pietras

On June 24, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petitions for writs of certiorari filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the American Lung Association in the litigation involving EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (“CSAPR”). The CSAPR sets limits on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from power plants…

By Bob Holden and Jillian Marullo

On April 23, 2013, in a case of first impression, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the EPA’s veto authority under section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C.§ 134(c), “clearly and unambiguously” includes the power to retroactively revoke portions of a Section 404 dredge and…

On October 25, 2012 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its corrected definition of “regulated NSR pollutant.” The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) adopted EPA’s revised definition of “regulated new source review (NSR) pollutant” at LAC 33:III.509.B in a May 20, 2013 Louisiana Register Notice. 39 La. Reg. 1280 (May 20, 2013). LDEQ’s…

By Lesley Foxhall Pietras

On April 18, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) committed to improving air emissions data for the oil and natural gas production sector. EPA made this commitment in response to the Office of Inspector General’s February 20, 2013 report, “EPA Needs to Improve Air Emissions Data for the…