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Regulatory Tracker Updates
As we near the end of 2021, we’ve been tracking the Biden administration’s regulatory actions related to the environment, climate, clean energy, and associated litigation and are keeping an eye on rules to watch for 2022.
Since our last update, Petitioners filed briefs in the Supreme Court case reviewing the D.C. Circuit decision to vacate the Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, which regulated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing power plants. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers released a proposed rule to rescind the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule and reinstate the pre-2015 definitions of “waters of the United States,” updated to reflect the Supreme Court case law. Litigation is proceeding related to the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of GHGs, and we're expecting the administration to release the final social cost of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane in early 2022. The White House submitted the Kigali Amendment to the Senate for ratification. And, before the year ends, we expect EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to release final clean car rules including GHG standards for model years 2023 and later, as well as NHTSA’s rule repealing the preemption rule by the Trump administration. For more regulatory updates, scroll to the bottom of this email read updates to our Regulatory Tracker pages.
In 2022, we will be watching for additional key actions by the Biden administration–many of which were recently outlined in the unified agenda, including:
- Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS): The Biden administration plans to release proposed revisions to the appropriate and necessary finding for the MATS and intends to issue a proposal related to the Residual Risk and Technology Review by June 2022.
- GHG Standards for Power Plants: The Petitioners filed their briefs with the Supreme Court on Monday, and final briefs are due February 18, 2022. With a decision expected in June, EPA has stated it intends to release a proposed rule by July 2022.
- Methane Standards for Oil and Gas Facilities: Comments on EPA’s proposed performance standards and emissions guidelines for new and existing oil and gas facilities are due at the end of January 2022, and EPA intends to issue a Supplemental Proposal for additional comment in advance of issuing a final rule by the end of 2022.
- Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR): EPA intends to release a proposed approach to address interstate transport of ozone for the 2015 ozone standards by February 2022.
- National Ambient Air Quality Standards: EPA is reviewing the ozone and particulate matter (PM) NAAQS and updating its evaluation of the science and public health data and recommendations by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC). The agency plans to issue a proposed rule for PM by August 2022, but has not projected timing for reviewing the ozone standard.
- Effluent Limitations Guidelines: EPA is working to propose revisions to the Steam Electric Power Generating Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards by the fall of 2022.
- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) intends to provide guidance on GHG considerations and the effects of climate change under NEPA by February 2022, finalize the Phase I NEPA revisions by February 2022, and propose broader changes to address the administration’s environmental, climate, and environmental justice objectives by June 2022.
- Oil and Gas on Federal Lands: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) expects to release two proposals: the Waste Prevention Rule (March 2022) and the Fossil Fuel Rule (May 2022) to address methane emissions from oil and gas operations on federal and Indian lands, and update BLM’s leasing process to account for the environmental and climate impacts associated with fossil fuel activities.
- Renewable Energy Development: The Department of the Interior (DOI) is looking to propose two rules to facilitate onshore and offshore renewable energy development. The first, expected by April from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), will “substantially update” existing renewable energy regulations in order to facilitate offshore wind development on the outer continental shelf (OCS). The second, by BLM, will update permitting processes for onshore rights-of-way, leasing, and operations related to renewable energy and transmission lines. BLM intends to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) by the end of this year.
- Migratory Birds: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) plans to issue a proposed rule in June 2022 under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) clarifying prohibitions on killing and taking migratory birds that are incidental to other activities.
- Endangered Species Act: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and FWS have published a NPRM rescinding the 2020 changes to the definition of habitat and processes for designating “critical habitats.” They expect to publish a final rule in October 2022.
See other rules we have recently added or updated in our Regulatory Tracker below. And, as always, if you have any feedback or questions please get in touch. Thanks for subscribing!
New Regulatory Tracker Pages
- Federal Onshore and Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Pause and Review: In his early executive orders, President Biden paused all federal onshore and offshore leasing, but the pause was blocked by a district court. The Biden administration appealed the pause, but DOI has continued holding lease sales, including its largest sale ever in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental groups have challenged the new lease sale, and we will continue to track this litigation in 2022. This new tracker page will provide the latest updates.
- Environmental Justice at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): We’ve added a new page to our Federal EJ Tracker to summarize important changes at FEMA addressing equity and environmental justice concerns, including changes to the federal flood insurance program, disaster preparedness and response, and internal equity efforts.
Other rules we've recently updated in our Regulatory Tracker
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