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WASHINGTON UPDATE
July 31 – August 6, 2021 www.4cleanair.org
In this week’s Washington Update:
1. President Signs Clean Vehicles Executive Order
2. EPA Administrator Announces NPRM to Strengthen Rolled-Back LDV GHG
Standards
3. Administrator Regan Appoints Science Advisory Board Members
4. EPA Urges Supreme Court to Reject Petitions Challenging Its Authority to
Regulate Power Plant GHG Emissions
5. EPA Inspector General Issues Report on Open and Unresolved
Recommendations
6. Senators Introduce Climate Bill For U.S. Territories
This Week in Review
(1) President Signs Clean Vehicles Executive Order (August 5, 2021) –
President Joseph Biden Jr. signed an executive order (EO) on Strengthening
American Leadership on Clean Cars and Trucks. The President’s EO includes a
non-binding goal for new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. in 2030 – specifically,
that 50 percent be electric vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid
electric or fuel-cell electric vehicles. In the EO, the President states that this
target, consistent with the policy of his Administration, will “improve our economy
and public health, boost energy security, secure consumer savings, advance
environmental justice, and address the climate crisis.” Through the order, the
President also calls upon EPA and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
to consider beginning work on rules for the following, among others: EPA – 1) new
NOx emission standards for heavy-duty (HD) engines and vehicles for model year
(MY) 2027 though at least MY 2030 – with a notice of proposed rulemaking by
January 2022 and any final rule by December 2022, 2) new multi-pollutant
emission standards, including for GHG emissions, to apply to light-and medium-
duty vehicles for MY 2027 through at least MY 2030, 3) updated GHG emission
standards for HD vehicles and engines for MY 2027 through at least MY 2029 (“in
consideration of the role zero-emission HD vehicles might have in reducing
emissions from certain market segments”) and 4) new GHG emission standards
for HD engines and vehicles beginning as soon as MY 2030; and DOT – 1) new
fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks for MY 2027 through
at least MY 2030, 2) new fuel economy standards for HD pickup trucks and vans
for MY 2028 through at least MY 2030 and 3) new fuel economy standards for
medium- and HD-engines and vehicles to begin as soon as MY 2030. With the
exception of NOx standards for HD vehicles and engines (see EPA rule 1, above),
EPA and DOT are asked to consider issuing any final rulemakings by July 2024.
Addressing a group of automaker CEOs, labor leaders, members of Congress and
others on the White House lawn, the President said the future of the auto industry
is electric and that the “future must be made in America” by American workers who
will allow the U.S. to “outcompete other countries.” Calling his plan “a blue-collar2 blueprint to rebuild,” the President noted that nearly 90 percent of the “good, well- paying jobs” to be created under this plan, across the full supply chain for the automotive sector, will require no college degree. For further information: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential- actions/2021/08/05/executive-order-on-strengthening-american-leadership-in- clean-cars-and-trucks/, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements- releases/2021/08/05/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-steps-to-drive- american-leadership-forward-on-clean-cars-and-trucks/ and https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements- releases/2021/08/05/statements-on-the-biden-administrations-steps-to-strengthen- american-leadership-on-clean-cars-and-trucks/, (2) EPA Administrator Announces NPRM to Strengthen Rolled-Back LDV GHG Standards (August 5, 2021) – As President Biden was signing his clean cars executive order (EO) (see related article in this Washington Update) EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan issued a press statement announcing release of a rulemaking to revise greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for light-duty vehicles (LDVs) to strengthen the standards set by the previous Administration in its 2020 “SAFE 2” rule, which substantially weakened standards established in 2012. According to the agency, the proposal, applicable to MYs 2023 to 2026, would set increasingly more stringent emission standards for each year. For MY 2023, the proposed standards would improve emission reductions by 10 percent over “SAFE 2”; in each of the two subsequent MYs the emissions improvement over “SAFE 2” would be 5 percent. By MY 2026, the standards as proposed “would be the most robust federal GHG standards in U.S. history.” The proposed rule also includes alternatives that would result in greater and lesser improvements over “SAFE 2.” In the press statement, EPA states that its analysis shows that auto makers would be able to comply with the proposed standards using technology that is already in use on today’s vehicles, with “modest increases in the numbers of electric vehicles entering the fleet.” EPA also announced that it is working on a series of major regulations to reduce emissions of GHGs and other pollutants from HD trucks, consistent with the President’s EO. The first will apply to HD vehicles beginning with MY 2027 and “will set new standards for criteria pollutants for the entire sector as well as targeted upgrades to the current ‘Phase 2’ GHG emissions standards for that model year.” This rule is to be finalized in 2022. A second rule would establish more rigorous GHG emission standards for new HD vehicles beginning as soon as MY 2030. For further information: https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/proposed-rule- revise-existing-national-ghg-emissions and https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-overhaul-pollution-standards-passenger- vehicles-and-heavy-duty-trucks-paving-way (3) Administrator Regan Appoints Science Advisory Board Members (August 2, 2021) – EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan announced his appointments to the agency’s Science Advisory Board (SAB). In March, the Administrator announced his decision to “reset” the SAB and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), saying “Scientific integrity is one of EPA’s foundational
3 values – and as Administrator, I am committed to ensuring that every decision we make meets rigorous scientific standards.” The new SAB includes 47 members (22 women and 25 men) specializing in an array of scientific disciplines, selected from 352 candidates who applied for membership. Of the new membership, Regan said, “This highly qualified, diverse group of experts will ensure that EPA is receiving sound science-based advice to inform our work to protect people and the environment from pollution. We worked expeditiously and deliberately to finalize the new Science Advisory Board, and now we can move forward knowing EPA’s work is guided by the most credible, independent expertise.” The Administrator announced his appointments to CASAC in June. Chartered by Congress in 1978, the SAB provides the Administrator with advice, upon his request, on a wide range of scientific issues by, among other things, reviewing the quality and relevance of the scientific and technical information being used by the agency or proposed as the basis for agency rules. A number of issue-specific subgroups, such as CASAC, carry out much of the preliminary work of the SAB. For further information: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-selections- charter-members-science-advisory-board and https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-selections-charter-members- clean-air-scientific-advisory-committee (4) EPA Urges Supreme Court to Reject Petitions Challenging Its Authority to Regulate Power Plant GHG Emissions (August 5, 2021) – The Biden Administration filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to reject four petitions for review of the January 2021 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to strike down EPA’s 2019 Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule, the rule that rescinded and replaced the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing power plants. The United States argues that it is premature for the Supreme Court to review the major argument raised in all of the petitions before it: that CAA Section 111 unambiguously forecloses EPA from relying on generation shifting as a component of the “best system of emission reduction.” The petitioners have contended that it is critically important for the Supreme Court to clarify the extent of EPA’s Section 111(d) authority in advance of a new Section 111(d) rulemaking, because states and industry will otherwise be left in limbo for years as the issue is re-litigated in the D.C. Circuit. The United States argues in response that for the Supreme Court to weigh in on this issue now would amount to an impermissible advisory opinion. The United States also urges the court to reject an additional argument pressed by Westmoreland Mining Holdings LLC: that EPA cannot regulate CO 2 emissions from existing coal-fired power plants under Section 111(d) because the agency already regulates emissions of certain hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from such plants under Section 112. The D.C. Circuit correctly rejected this contention, the brief argues, and in any event, the Supreme Court’s consideration of the issue now would also be premature, given pending challenges to EPA’s regulation of HAP emissions from power plants under Section 112. The four pending petitions before the Supreme Court were filed earlier this year by 1) a coalition of nineteen states led by West Virginia, 2) the State of North Dakota, 3) the North American Coal Corporation, and 4) Westmoreland Mining Holdings LLC (see related articles
4 in the April 24-30, May 1-7 and June 19-25, 2021 editions of the Washington Update). For further information: https://www.4cleanair.org/wp- content/uploads/West-Virginia-v.-EPA-U.S.-Opp-to-Cert-Petitions-8-5-21.pdf (5) EPA Inspector General Issues Report on Open and Unresolved Recommendations (August 4, 2021) – The EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued a report analyzing 25 unresolved and 111 open recommendations it has made to the agency, which were identified in a semiannual report issued on May 29, 2021. The newly released Compendium of Open and Unresolved Recommendations: Data as of March 31, 2021 discusses the relationship between the open and unresolved issues and the top management challenges the OIG articulated in a July 21, 2020 report and also provides information on the human health, environmental, administrative and business benefits that would result from acting on the recommendations. Among the air-related issues included in the report were the following: better communication from EPA is needed to provide ethylene oxide emission risks information to residents, EPA did not develop required cost and benefit analyses and assessment of air quality impacts related to the proposed glider repeal rule, EPA should improve oversight over state implementation of Municipal Solid Waste Landfill regulations and more effective oversight Is needed for particulate matter emissions compliance testing. For further information: https://www.epa.gov/office- inspector-general/report-compendium-open-and-unresolved-recommendations- data-march-31-2021 (6) Senators Introduce Climate Bill For U.S. Territories (August 4, 2021) - U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Chair Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) have introduced legislation to help U.S. territories better access federal resources and technical assistance that address climate change. The senators noted that over 3.5 million Americans live in these territories, and that these communities are among those most vulnerable to sea level rise, extreme weather, and other climate change impacts. The “Insular Climate Change Act” would create a new office within EPA to create programs and manage incentives for renewable energy production and infrastructure resilience, and to provide technical assistance and access to federal programs in U.S. territories including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. Companion legislation (HR 2780) was introduced in April 2021 in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), Darren Soto (D-FL), and Delegates Gregorio Sablan (D-CNMI), Stacey Plaskett (D-USVI) and Michael San Nicolas (D-Guam). For further information: https://www.menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/press/menendez-hirono-introduce- legislation-to-tackle-impacts-of-climate-change-in-us-territories-freely-associated- states and https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2780/text
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The Week Ahead
• Congress in Recess – August 10 – September 7, 2021
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