At least two states have quietly sought EPA approval to begin operating permit programs to implement the agency's 2015 coal ash disposal rule, according to new court filings where the agency, industry and environmentalists are sparring over how the applications affect requests to indefinitely stay litigation over the merits of the rule.
EPA is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to sever and hold in abeyance a lawsuit challenging the agency's designation of parts of Texas as out of attainment with federal sulfur dioxide (SO2) air standards, pending a ruling in a related 5th Circuit and EPA's ongoing reconsideration of the designation.
Environmentalists and two chemical manufacturers are urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to reverse a split panel ruling vacating EPA's rule to reduce refrigerants that act as potent greenhouse gases, arguing that the agency's interpretation of a key Clean Air Act provision is entitled to deference.
Sierra Club and other groups are trying to bolster their case over EPA's “hot-spot” guidance by noting its use in areas out of attainment with federal air standards.
EPA is asking a federal district judge to end litigation over its now-withdrawn “interim” stay of compliance deadlines in the Obama-era Clean Water Act (CWA) effluent rule for power plants, saying the challenge is moot due to a separate recently finalized rule that codifies many of the same compliance deadline extensions.
EPA is poised to respond to environmentalists' suit challenging the agency's rejection of their petition seeking to ban the practice of fluoridating water under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), but the case could test EPA's stance on which chemical uses it must consider in its risk analyses as it has taken a different position on the issue in recently issued TSCA rules.
Farmworker groups aim to preserve challenge to Trump administration delay of Obama EPA rule seeking to bolster protections for applicators of certain pesticides.
Environmentalists and seven states are asking the Supreme Court to take up their challenge to EPA's Clean Water Act (CWA) rule that exempts water transfers from permit requirements, saying an appellate court's decision to uphold the Bush-era rule contradicts the law's plain text and breaks with the justices' past rulings.
