By Jillian Marullo

House Bill 788, signed into law on June 14, 2013, authorizes the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases (“GHG”) “[t]o the extent that greenhouse gas emissions require authorization under federal law.” The legislation gives TCEQ the authority to issue permits authorizing…

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 Greg Johnson and Stephen Wiegand

In a July 17, 2013 decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a $6 million dollar penalty levied under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) against CITGO Petroleum Corporation (“CITGO”) and remanded the matter to the Western District of Louisiana for further consideration. See U.S. …

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…