On August 30, 2017 the D.C. Circuit denied environmental and labor groups’ request to stay the Tump EPA’s final rule delaying the Obama-era amendments to the EPA’s Risk Management Program (“RMP”) rule. The RMP rule implements Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act and requires facilities that use extremely hazardous substances to develop and update
EPA Approves Emergency Fuel Waiver for Areas in Louisiana in Response to Hurricane Harvey
On August 28, 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) approved an emergency fuel waiver for areas for Louisiana affected by Hurricane Harvey. The waiver is an effort to minimize or prevent problems with the supply of gasoline. Sixteen parishes in the state are required to sell low Reid vapor pressure (“RVP”) gasoline,[i] having a
Impact in Louisiana of D.C. Circuit’s Decision on Definition of Solid Waste Rule
The D.C. Circuit’s July 7, 2017 decision on EPA’s 2015 definition of solid waste rule (DSW Rule)[1] may change the regulation of hazardous waste in Louisiana. First, some background.
In 2008, EPA promulgated a definition of solid waste rule that was intended to foster waste recycling (2008 Rule).[2] Therein, among other things, EPA provided two
EPA Administrator Signs Rule Delaying the Effective Date of RMP Rule
On June, 9, 2017, Scott Pruitt signed a final rule delaying the effective date of the RMP rule until February 19, 2019. The Environmental Protection Agency” (“EPA”) stated that it had received 54,117 public comments, 54,000 of which were part of a mass mail campaign, leaving 108 submissions with unique content. A final rule is
Awaiting EPA’s Decision on RMP Delay
On January 13, 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a final rule revising portions of the Risk Management Program (“RMP”) rule. On April 3, 2017, the EPA proposed to delay the effective date of the changes until February 19, 2019 to allow for a reconsideration of these changes. 82 Fed. Reg. 16146 (Apr 3,
Impact of Delek Refining Decision on EPA’s RMP Penalty Policy
At the very end of 2016, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated two Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) citations for alleged violations of Process Safety Management (“PSM”) regulations. In that case, the Court held that OSHA was barred from issuing a citation for the failure to act on Process Hazard Analysis (“PHA”) findings/recommendations
EPA Not Likely to Revise Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Nitrogen Dioxide
EPA is required by Section 109(d) the Clean Air Act to review the adequacy of each National Ambient Air Quality Standard (“NAAQS”) every five years to determine if new scientific evidence justifies a change to the standard. The current primary[i] NAAQS for nitrogen dioxide (“NO2”) is 53 ppb annual mean and 100 ppb NO2 as
EPA Delays Effective Date of RMP
On February 28, 2017, the EPA received a petition from the “RMP Coalition” for reconsideration and a request for a stay from the amendments to the RMP rule. The RMP Coalition consists of several affected industry trade groups, manufacturing groups, and the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America. The petition asserts that:
EPA RMP Requirements: Information Availability
On March 14, 2016, Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) proposed changes to the Risk Management Plan Program (“RMP”) Rule . On January 13, 2017, the EPA published a new final rule. This is the final article in a series that addresses five major changes: root cause analysis for near misses, third-party audits, inherently safer technology,
Effective Immediately, EPA Withdraws Information Collection Request for Methane Emissions from Existing Oil & Gas Sources
On March 2, 2017, the EPA withdrew its information collection request (ICR) regarding methane emissions from existing oil and gas facilities. EPA finalized and issued the underlying ICR on November 10, 2016. Since that time, EPA sent letters to thousands of owners and operators in the oil and gas industry, requiring them to complete surveys