Climate Policy Watch

In an unexpected move, EPA has announced that air chief Bill Wehrum is departing at the end of this month, potentially raising questions about the progress of major air and climate rollbacks that EPA has been advancing under his watch.

House Democrats have approved fiscal year 2020 spending legislation for EPA and other agencies that includes numerous provisions blocking Trump administration environmental rollbacks, though it is far from clear whether the provisions will survive negotiations with the GOP-controlled Senate and the White House.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has rejected refiner Valero’s suit alleging EPA failed to meet a statutory mandate to conduct periodic reviews of the renewable fuel standard’s (RFS) impacts on the sector, finding a 2017 agency statement that it met review mandates is not a final action subject to judicial review.

Last week’s House oversight hearing on the Trump administration’s planned rollback of vehicle greenhouse gas and fuel economy rules is underscoring that supporters and detractors of the policy are locked in an ongoing substantive and political battle over the rule’s environmental, safety and economic effects.