GHG Emissions
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of July 11, 2022
Oil and Gas Regulation: PA General Assembly Passes Well Plugging Bill ⚡
On July 7, 2022, the Pennsylvania Senate and House both passed HB 2644. The bill would establish and allocate funds to the Orphan Well Plugging Grant Program (Program). Funding through this program would be used to receive and approve applications, provide civil liability for well pluggers, and issue grants to plug oil and gas wells. The bill would also set criteria for which wells qualify for the program and who qualifies as a well plugger. The bill was presented to Governor Wolf on July 8, 2022.
Municipal Regulation: PA […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of November 15, 2021
GHG Emissions: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Proposes New Rule Reviewing GHG Emissions Standards from the Oil and Gas Industry
On November 15, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued in the Federal Register a proposed rule, titled “Standards of Performance for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources and Emissions Guidelines for Existing Sources: Oil and Natural Gas Sector Climate Review” (86 FR 63110). This proposed rule is consistent with President Joe Biden’s Executive Order “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis” and would limit greenhouse gas emissions from the Crude Oil […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of November 8, 2021
GHG Emissions: The U.S. Supreme Court Grants Petitions for Writs of Certiorari Asking Review of EPA’s Authority over Regulation of GHG Emissions from Power Plants
On October 29, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear multiple petitions for review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The petitions have been consolidated under docket No. 20-1530. The state of North Dakota (No. 20-1780) along with nineteen (19) other states (No. 20-1530), the North American Coal Corporation (No. 20-1531) and Westmoreland Mining Holdings, LLC (No. 20-1778) […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of November 1, 2021
Pipelines: Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Orders the Public Release of Emails Between Middletown Township and Energy Transfer Concerning the Mariner East 2 Pipeline ⚡
On October 15, 2021, the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas ordered Middletown Township to give residents of the Glen Riddle Station Apartments, located along the Mariner East 2 Pipeline, access to their email communications with Energy Transfer, which access was initially refused by the company. The Court of Common Pleas held that these communications are public. Energy Transfer, the owner of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline, was recently charged for environmental crimes by […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of October 18, 2021
Pipelines: The United States and State of Illinois Sue Pipeline Owner and Operator for Damages Caused by Oil Pollution ⚡
On October 13, 2021, the United States and the state of Illinois filed a complaint before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The plaintiffs ask for damages from both the owner, West Shore Pipe Line Co., and the operator, Buckeye Pipe Line Co. L.P., of Line 257, a 3.5-mile pipeline designed to transport crude oil in Illinois. Plaintiffs alleged that they suffered an “injury to, destruction of, loss of, or loss of use of, natural resources, […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of October 11, 2021
GHG Emissions: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Issues Final Rule to Reduce Hydrofluorocarbons Use and Production ⚡
On October 5, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register a Final Rule, titled “Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Establishing the Allowance Allocation and Trading Program Under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act.” The purpose of this rule is to decrease the U.S. production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HCFs) by 85% until 2036, in accordance with the 2020 American Innovation and Manufacturing Act. Hydrofluorocarbons are potent greenhouse gases that are commonly used as refrigerants in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems. In a […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of September 6, 2021
GHG Emissions: Pennsylvania IRCC Approves Carbon Pricing Proposed Rulemaking
On September 1, 2021, the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRCC) reviewed and approved a rulemaking proposed by the Environmental Quality Board (EQB). The proposed regulation (Reg. #7-559) was initially published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on November 7, 2020 and would amend 25 Pa. Code Chapter 145 and establish a CO2 Budget Trading Program. The purpose of the program would be to restrict carbon emissions from fossil-fuel-fired electric generating units (EGU) through carbon pricing. In addition, Pennsylvania will join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cooperative market-based cap-and-trade […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of May 31, 2021
GHG Emissions: Supreme Court Remands Three Climate Cases Back to Courts of Appeals for Further Consideration ⚡
On May 24, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a list of orders granting petitions of certiorari for climate change–related lawsuits filed against various fossil fuel companies. The Court remanded the cases back to their respective circuits, pursuant to the Court’s May 17, 2021 decision in BP P.L.C., et al., Petitioners v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, No. 19-1189. Proper jurisdiction—state or federal—is at issue in all three cases, and prior Court of Appeals’ rulings had ordered that they be […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of May 24, 2021
GHG Emissions: Supreme Court Remands Baltimore Climate Change Suit Back to Court of Appeals ⚡
On May 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion remanding back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit a Maryland climate change suit brought by the Mayor and City of Baltimore against multiple oil companies, including BP, Chevron, CITGO, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Petroleum, and Shell Oil. BP P.L.C., et al., Petitioners v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, No. 19-1189. The oil companies had petitioned for a writ of certiorari after unsuccessfully attempting to remove the case from Maryland state […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of May 17, 2021
Air Quality: EPA Rescinds Clean Air Act Benefit-Cost Rule ⚡
On May 14, 2021 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted in the Federal Register an interim final rule titled, “Rescinding the Rule on Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Benefits and Costs in the Clean Air Act Rulemaking Process” (86 FR 26406). The recission retracts the December 2020 rule promulgated by the previous administration (85 FR 84130). The December 2020 rule required the agency to include in the preamble of all proposed “significant” Clean Air Act regulations the results of a benefit-cost analysis demonstrating “a clear causal or […]
