In the past several months, the Trump Administration has targeted U.S. EPA for major regulatory reform, massive budget cuts and a roll-back of Obama era regulations. No Administration since the enactment of the landmark environmental statutes has gone as as far as the Trump Administration in attempting to change the landscape of environmental regulation.
After
Another aspect of Governor Kasich’s controversial proposed legislation- Senate Bill 315- is to provide the legislative authority for Ohio EPA to take over Section 404 Clean Water Act permitting from the Army Corps of Engineers. Section 404 permits are needed prior to impacts to streams or wetlands within federal jurisdiction.
The bill itself doesn’t really do
The U.S. Chamber commissioned a study of the economic impact of project that have been delayed or canceled as a result of federal and state permitting processes. As described by the U.S. Chamber on its website:
This study estimates the potential loss in economic value of 351 proposed solar, wind, wave, bio-fuel, coal, gas, nuclear
You don’t often get State court decisions on environmental law, especially on air permitting issues. Recently, the 10th Appellate Court in Columbus issued a decision that has at least a few major implications for businesses in Ohio. State of Ohio ex rel Ohio Atty. Gen. v. The Shelly Holding Co, et. al.,
There is a good summary of
Recently, the Toledo Blade had a story on the recent court ruling regarding the FDS Coke permit. The FDS permit has been the subject of numerous appeals which have dragged on years. The 10th Appellate Court recently issued a ruling sending the FDS permit back to the Environmental Review Appeals Commission for determination of whether construction had begun in order to maintain
In my tenure at Ohio EPA, no issue was as vexing as Environmental Justice (EJ). In a nutshell, there is a legitimate issue behind the concept of EJ- low income and minorities are exposed to more pollution. Here is how EPA presents the EJ issues:
Fair Treatment means that no group of people should bear a
Major uncertainty surrounds Ohio’s air permtting program. I use the term "certainty" because that was the buzz word utilized when business groups fought hard for major reforms that eventually were passed in Senate Bill 265 in 2006.
Back in 2006, business groups were concerned that Ohio’s system for issuing air permits was far more onerous and unpredictable than other
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On November 23, 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized new rules intended to control stormwater pollution from construction sites. The rule takes effect on February 2010 and will be phased in over four years.
The most significant new requirement is the imposition of numeric discharge limits from larger construction sites. In the past, U.S. EPA required construction site owners/operators to
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Back in 2006, while I was still at Ohio EPA, a major piece of state legislation worked its way through the General Assembly. Senate Bill 265 was developed by business groups in Ohio to address concerns with the structure and implementation of Ohio air pollution permitting programs. The main target to be fixed was the
Buried in the thousand pages of the Ohio Budget Bill (H.B. 1) is an amendment that could have a major impact on hundreds of pending and future appeals of environmental decisions. The budget bill amendment includes language placing strict deadlines for issuing decisions on environmental appeals. The deadlines could impact some very controversial permit appeals, including the