U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, Louisiana issued a decision on September 14, 2022, vacating a proposed industrial facility’s permit issued by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (“LDEQ”) and finding that LDEQ violated the federal Clean Air Act and its duty under the Public Trust Doctrine.[1] Although the decision concerns

The Louisiana Legislature has directed the Department of Environmental Quality (“LDEQ”) to promulgate regulations allowing for “voluntary environmental self-audits.” [1]  The self-audit regulations are to include provisions protecting confidential information and providing incentives to facilities for conducting a self-audit.

Environmental self-audit programs are designed to allow a facility to identify compliance issues and address them

The EPA has proposed pretreatment standards for the Oil and Gas Extraction Category (40 CFR Part 435). The regulations would address discharges of wastewater pollutants from onshore Unconventional Oil and Gas (UOG) extraction facilities to Publicly-Owned Treatment Works (POTWs). The EPA contends that “the proposed rule would better protect public health, the environment, and the

Last year, the EPA announced its intention to add or modify a number of AP-42 emission factors, primarily for petroleum refineries, pursuant to a consent decree entered into with Air Alliance Houston, Community In-Power and Development Association, Inc., Louisiana Bucket Brigade and Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (“Plaintiffs”).  The EPA informally solicited comments on its