Environmental, Energy and Climate Change Law & Regulation Reporter
February 2015
Volume 7, Number 9
February 2015
CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS
Council for Environmental Quality Issues Draft Guidelines on How to Address Greenhouse Gas Emissions in NEPA Documents243
New York State Poised to Permanently Ban Hydraulic Fracturing245
Texas Lawmaker Aims to Discourage Cities from Passing Fracking
Bans246
Working on the Railroad? Federal Preemption, CEQA and California’s High Speed Rail Project Prompt the California Supreme Court’s Grant of
Review248
CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENCE
Recent Scientific Studies on Climate Change250
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
EPA Issues Final Rule—Characterizes Coal Ash as Solid Waste Rather than Hazardous Waste under RCRA253
Comment Period for Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan Nearing End255
California Air Resources Board to Re-Adopt an Updated Low Carbon Fuel Standard in February256
PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS
Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties, and Sanctions258
JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS
Federal:
Federal Circuit Finds EPA Exceeded Its Authority under the Clean Air Act When It Extended Deadlines for Implementing Regulations Governing Ozone Emissions260
Natural Resources Defense Council v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___, Case No. 12-1321 (D.C. Cir. Dec. 23, 2014).
Seventh Circuit Finds EPA’s Redesignation of Three Geographic Areas as Having Attained NAAQS for Ozone Was ‘Reasonably Attributed’ to Emission Reductions262
Sierra Club v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 12-2853, 12-3142, 12-3143 (7th Cir. Dec. 16, 2014).
Despite Finding Clean Air Act Violations, District Court Enters Judgment in Favor of Exxon in Citizen Suit264
Environment Texas Citizen Lobby, Inc. v. ExxonMobil Corporation, ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. H-10-4969 (S.D. Tex. Dec. 17, 2014).
State:
California Court of Appeal Considers Scope of Mining Board’s Authority to Review Reclamation Plans and the Use of Conservation Easements to Mitigate the Loss of Farmland266
Friends of the Kings River v. County of Fresno, 232 Cal.App.4th 105 (5th Dist. 2014).
