Energy and Environment Monitor

WVDEP Issues Reminder Concerning New Requirements For Large Water Withdrawals From Surface and Groundwater Sources

July 16, 2015

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has issued a reminder to the public about new requirements related to the 2014 amendments to the state Water Resources Protection and Management Act.  The amendments include a lower reporting threshold as well as a requirement to collect monthly data.

The new reporting threshold for water withdrawn from surface or groundwater sources…

EPA Seeks Order From 4th Circuit to Prohibit Discovery by Murray Energy: UPDATE 4th Circuit Denies Relief to EPA

July 10, 2015

We have previously reported on Murray Energy’s action against EPA in the Northern District of West Virginia.  There, Murray has sued EPA to enforce § 321(a) of the Clean Air Act, which requires EPA to “conduct continuing evaluations” of potential loss or shifts of employment” which may result from the administration or enforcement of the Clean Air Act. 

Recently, the District…

EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) in Limbo After Supreme Court Decision

June 30, 2015

On Monday, in an opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency “strayed far beyond [the] bounds” of reasonableness by not considering costs in its decision to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants from fossil fuel-fired power plants. The case, Michigan vs. EPA, was decided 5-4, with Justices Scalia, Roberts, Kennedy,…

Mingo Logan Appeals Adverse District Court Decision on § 404 Permit “Veto” - Again

June 18, 2015

Mingo Logan Coal Company obtained a Clean Water Act § 404 permit from the Corps of Engineers in January 2007.  The permit authorized fills associated with the Spruce Mine in Logan County, West Virginia.  In January 2011, USEPA exercised its authority under CWA § 404(c) and “vetoed” the permit.  Mingo Logan challenged the veto in the D.C. District Court, claiming both…

EPA Seeks Order From 4th Circuit to Prohibit Discovery by Murray Energy

June 17, 2015

We have previously reported on Murray Energy’s action against EPA in the Northern District of West Virginia.  There, Murray has sued EPA to enforce § 321(a) of the Clean Air Act, which requires EPA to “conduct continuing evaluations” of potential loss or shifts of employment” which may result from the administration or enforcement of the Clean Air Act. 

Recently, the District…

Court Compels EPA to Respond to Murray Energy’s Discovery Requests in WV Clean Air Act Case

June 12, 2015

In March 2014, Murray Energy sued EPA in West Virginia.  Murray claimed EPA had failed to conduct “continuing evaluations of potential loss or shifts of employment which may result from the administration of” the Clean Air Act as required by Section 321(a) of that Act.  In particular, Murray claimed EPA had not conducted the required evaluations of the effect of its programs on the coal…

N.Y. Releases Study Which Governor Relied Upon To Ban Fracing

May 18, 2015

On May 13, 2015, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (the Department) finally released its Final Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) examining high-volume hydraulic fracturing’s (HVHF) potential significant adverse environmental and public health impacts and possible mitigation measures to eliminate, avoid or reduce those impacts. A copy of the…

Supreme Court Divided Over Industry Challenge To Mercury Air Rule

May 5, 2015

EPA issued the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (“MATS”) rule under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act in December 2011.  That statutory section required EPA to “perform a study of the hazards to public health reasonably anticipated to occur as a result of emissions by electric utility steam generating units” of mercury and other identified pollutants.  It also required EPA to study…

Supreme Court Divided Over Industry Challenge To Mercury Air Rule

May 5, 2015

EPA issued the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (“MATS”) rule under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act in December 2011.  That statutory section required EPA to “perform a study of the hazards to public health reasonably anticipated to occur as a result of emissions by electric utility steam generating units” of mercury and other identified pollutants.  It also required EPA to study…

The “Other” Murray Energy Clean Air Act Challenge

April 28, 2015

Murray Energy is the lead plaintiff in a well-publicized challenge to EPA’s proposed Clean Power Rule in the D.C. Circuit Court.  See In re: Murray Energy Corp. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., No. 14-1112 (D.C. Circuit).  But, it is also the only plaintiff in an action against EPA in federal court in Wheeling, West Virginia.  There, Murray has claimed that EPA has…

WVDEP Issues Order Requiring Additional Reporting From Coal Prep Plants

April 22, 2015

WVDEP April 2015 Order

On April 15, 2015, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“WVDEP”) mailed out a generic order to all of the approximately 90 coal preparation plants in West Virginia.  The Order requires prep plants to identify all chemical components of the products used at the plant as well as the outlets that could potentially receive these…

2015 WV Legislature Rewrites Aboveground Storage Tank Act

April 16, 2015

In January 2014, a leak of MCHM from a tank farm operated by Freedom Industries entered an intake for a public water system on the Elk River in Charleston, West Virginia.  The State Legislature, already in town, responded to public outcry and cobbled together a complicated statutory and regulatory structure for aboveground tanks before adjourning in March 2014.  WVDEP, unfamiliar with…