Businesses are increasingly trying to market their products as “green.” Common eco-friendly labels or claims can be found on many products, including labels like “recycled content”, “biodegradable”, and “safe for the environment.” Before making any such claims, businesses should be able to substantiate their claims or risk legal action.
How frequent are false or misleading
In a dramatic reversal from the Bush Administration, the Department of Justice and U.S. EPA are renewing their New Source Review enforcement efforts against coal-fired power plants. The NSR lawsuits originally commenced during the Clinton years have resulted in billions of dollars in new controls and hundreds of millions in civil penalties.
The industry had breathed a sigh
No doubt the President’s budget includes a very ambitious proposal cap and trade proposal to address Climate Change. The President Budget provides an overview of the proposal in the EPA budget:
After enactment of the Budget, the Administration will work expeditiously
with key stakeholders and Congress to develop an economy-wide emissions reduction program to reduce
In National Farm Bureau Federation v. EPA, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has granted environmental group petition for review of the NAAQS for fine particle pollution known as PM 2.5. Environmental groups and industry groups both challenged portions of EPA’s standard. The EPA had decided to maintain the annual standard at 15 μg/m3. The Court
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On February 18th another permit, Northern Michigan University Ripley Heating Plant, for a new coal facility was remanded by U.S. EPA’s Environmental Board of Review. The Board remanded the permit because the State (the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality), in issuing the permit, failed to address whether CO2 was a regulated pollutant under the Clean Air
I was asked by a reader (Associate Law Professor at UT) to provide a free advertisement about a fellowship program for lawyers interested in teaching energy law. I don’t put advertisements on my blog, but I thought this may be an interesting opportunity for some of my readers. The information below was provided by my reader.
The University of Texas School of Law is seeking applicants for an energy law fellowship. Fellows will be jointly affiliated with the Law School’s Emerging Scholars Program and the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Fellows do not need to have a specific interest in security issues.
The Emerging Scholars Program offers two-year fellowship to help attorneys prepare for tenure-track faculty positions in U.S. law schools. The Program is designed to give talented attorneys the chance to develop a scholarly agenda and publish one or more articles in preparation for the academic job market. Fellows will be full participants in the rich intellectual life of the Law School, and will receive substantial faculty assistance with their projects.
(see the extended entry for more information)
Continue Reading University Texas Law School Offers Fellowship in Energy Law
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I have been following discussion regarding the green elements of the .jpg)
Presidents Stimulus Package, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. There is certainly a lot directed toward environmentally related projects, especially renewable energy development. Leading some to call these provisions the "Green New Deal."
What is the real story behind some of the spending that has been reported? You certainly can find information all across the web and on government sites that simply lists the amount of money in the bill and which program it has been directed. However, detail about what the money will really be used for can be hard to find.
Bottom line, some provisions are better than others. For instance, much of the money directed toward U.S. EPA will pay for existing projects. This includes prior grant applications, clean ups already under contract or projects previously selected for funding. So, for many of you expecting great new opportunities for EPA related projects, I don’t think the bill offers you that much. (with the exception of diesel engine related grants- see below).
The renewable energy side of the equation is a totally different story. There are continued and new tax incentives as well as new grant opportunities. There is a lot in the bill and it will literally pay to stay on top of what is available.
I. EPA Side- the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 specifically includes $7.22 billion for projects and programs administered by EPA.
Below is a description of the major areas of funding as well as an analysis of whether this funding presents new opportunities. EPA has established a web site page with helpful links that discuss the opportunities in the Stimulus Bill relative to the money designated for EPA.
Brownfields: There is over $100 million directed to U.S. EPA’s brownfield redevelopment program. I was intrigued regarding this new slug of money for it could present another great opportunity for clients outside of the Clean Ohio program. However, after asking for more details from U.S. EPA, I learned that this money is basically already spent. The U.S. EPA intends to use it for projects that requested funding back in 2008 but were not funded due to an over abundance of proposals. While its good news more projects are getting funded, I believe U.S. EPA could have even received better project proposals if they would have allowed for new applications.
Diesel Emission Retrofits Act (DERA): The Stimulus directed over $300 million in new money to fund the DERA program. DERA is the federal grant program that pays for diesel engine retrofits, repowers and replacements. Last years allocation was only $50 million for the entire country. So the Stimulus does provide real, new money for this program. U.S. EPA intends to spend the money quickly so watch U.S. EPA’s website and Recovery.gov to jump in with your project.
Underground Storage Tank (USTs) Cleanups: $200 million was provided to U.S. EPA’s Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (LUST) Program, EPA provides resources to states and territories for the oversight, enforcement and cleanup of petroleum releases from underground storage tanks (USTs). EPA estimates that every year 7,570 new releases occur which just adds to the sites that have not yet been completed. There could be as many as 116,000 sites requiring clean up actions in 2009. However, it appears the funding will be used to help pay for clean ups of abandoned tanks rather than create a new grant program. Here is additional detail from the from the Convenience Store News regarding the Stimulus package:
Other measures relevant to c-stores include a final approval of $200 million for the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund, which assists in the cleanup of abandoned gas stations, but will not pay for inspections or to assist state reimbursements programs.
Superfund Cleanups: $600 million was provided to U.S. EPA’s superfund program. However, these funds will be obligated mostly through existing contracts and Interagency Agreements. In 2009 there could be as many as 20 Superfund sites ready for construction, but not funded due to budget shortfalls. The Recovery funds will begin to address those sites, plus accelerate construction at many of 600 sites where work has been limited in the past by funding constraints.
Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: $4 billion for assistance to help communities with water quality and wastewater infrastructure needs and $2 billion for drinking water infrastructure needs. A portion of the funding will be targeted toward green infrastructure, water and energy efficiency and environmentally innovative projects. (guidance on the green infrastructure component)
Ohio EPA has begun soliciting projects for its Drinking Water and Wastewater Revolving Loan Programs. However, projects must already have been planned and reviewed by Ohio EPA for inclusion on project planning lists. For instance, drinking water projects must be on the Drinking Water Project Priority List (PPL).
II. Renewable Energy- the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 bill is anticipated to provide around $43 billion for renewable energy in the form of tax breaks and other incentives
The extended entry includes a summary of the renewable energy incentives and investment as assembled by the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE). (the link provides you a hard copy of the ACORE document- which does a great job of assembling the relevant information for renewable energy incentives- or see the extended entry for a summary).Continue Reading Green New Deal? Green Trinkets and Empty Packages in the Stimulus Bill
Kudos to those in Cleveland responsible for launching the country’s first community based carbon offset fund- the Cleveland Carbon Fund. It is an innovative approach to offsetting your personal or business carbon footprint. Richard Steubi’s Cleantech blog describes the difference between the Cleveland Fund and other offsetting options:
"There are already several options in the marketplace
May you live in interesting times….Yesterday EPA Administrator Jackson issued a letter granting the Sierra Club’s petition for reconsideration of a Deseret Power memo issued by former EPA Administrator Johnson. The Petition seeks reconsideration of the Johnson memo which interpreted EPA regulations defining the pollutants covered by federal permitting under the Clean Air Act. The Johnson
There is good news for area businesses. Additional compliance costs and restrictions on economic growth will be avoided that were deemed all but certain a few years ago. The compliance costs were associated with new air pollution controls needed to achieve U.S. EPA’s 1997 8-hour ozone standard (0.85 ppm). The deadline to meet this