Al Armendariz, the EPA’s Regional Administrator for Region 6, has resigned amidst Congressional outcry over remarks that Armendariz made at a 2010 town hall comparing his enforcement strategy to the Roman practice of crucifixion.

The EPA has determined that 45 areas across the country, including Sheboygan County, are not meeting the 2008 8-hour ozone standards based on the most recent certified air quality data. It is possible the number of Wisconsin counties with nonattainment status will increase by the end of the month as the EPA has yet to designate Kenosha County.

The EPA continues to drag its feet in issuing the final coal ash residuals rules, but some groups have filed lawsuits to speed the process. The EPA has said it would finalize the rule in 2012, and the lawsuits seek to hold EPA to that promise with a court-ordered deadline.

The EPA has released to the public a web-based mapping tool developed for Federal agencies to facilitate more efficient and effective environmental reviews and project planning. The tool, NEPAssist, draws information from publicly available federal, state, and local datasets, allowing NEPA practitioners, stakeholders and the public to view information about environmental conditions within the area of a proposed project quickly and easily at early stages of project development.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency are both accepting comments on a multitude of issues impacting Wisconsin businesses. The agencies are accepting comments on various air, water, and waste rules; and in addition, the DNR is also asking for help identifying burdensome and outdated rules.

In response to a court deadline, the EPA has finalized its long-awaited rules regulating air pollution from hydraulic fracturing. According to the EPA, the standards rely on technologies already in use at about half of the nation’s natural-gas wells, and these technologies will trap 95 percent of the harmful emissions from these wells.

On April 13, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral argument on EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). Court watchers who attended the arguments think the case could go either way based on the judges’ questioning.

The Coast Guard has issued its final rule setting allowable concentrations of living organisms in ballast water discharged in U.S. waters, including the Great Lakes. The rule requires oceangoing freighters entering American waters to install onboard treatment systems to filter and disinfect their ballast water. The regulation largely parallels a pending international standard and an effluent limits standard the EPA has proposed.

On May 12, 2011, the DNR submitted provisions affecting the Forest County Potawatomi Community (FCPC) Class I Area for inclusion in Wisconsin’s State Implementation Plan (SIP). The EPA has released a draft rule incorporating the FCPC Class I Area rules, and is now accepting comments on the proposal.

The EPA announced it has taken a step toward wide distribution of gasoline mixed with 15 percent ethanol by allowing manufacturers to register as suppliers. Twenty ethanol makers have registered to sell E15, including Ace Ethanol LLC in Stanley, WI.

The EPA is again delaying the release of final air pollution standards for the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of natural gas wells. The agency requested the additional time to fully address the 156,000 public comments it received on the proposed rules.

Mining is a hot topic in Wisconsin this year, so a recent post on the Law & The Environment blog by Seth Jaffe discussing the EPA's authority to revoke a mining-related § 404 permit caught my eye. Jaffe's post, and the underlying decision, are both worth a read.

Bloomberg BNA recently published an article, EPA Tells Wisconsin Officials to Consider More Efficient Turbines in BACT Analysis, that draws attention to the EPA’s rejection of the DNR’s BACT analysis for Wisconsin's Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility.

Supporters and detractors of the recently proposed rule to limit greenhouse gas emission from existing power plants all agree that the rule will limit the construction and use of coal-burning power plants. GLLF provides a summary of the biggest stories from the Wisconsin and national media.

On March 27, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first ever Clean Air Act standard for carbon emissions from future power plants. The rules have the potential to end the construction of conventional coal-fired facilities in the United States.

The United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision on March 21, ruling that property owners can sue to void compliance orders issued by the EPA immediately, rather than having to wait until the EPA decides to take the property owner to court for noncompliance. The decision makes clear access to courts is a proper response to “the strong-arming of regulated parties” by government agencies.

The EPA has completed a final rule setting secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), and has submitted it to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. This is the last step before the rules become final.

The EPA recently filed its reply brief in EME Homer City Generation LP v. EPA, the case challenging the Cross State Air Pollution Rule.

The Environmental Protection Agency will not lower the existing thresholds in its tailoring rule for stationary emissions sources to obtain greenhouse gas permits, the agency said in a proposed rule released February 27, 2012.

On February 16, 2012, the EPA published the final Mercury Air Toxics Standards (MATS) in the Federal Register. The purpose of these standards, according to the EPA’s website, is to reduce pollution created by coal and oil power plants.