October 20, 2010

Fall Practice Update

The Environmental Law Institute's Fall Practice Update is an annual, half-day seminar addressing important issues in environmental law and management. It allows practitioners to both learn about and share their views on cutting edge environmental legal issues.

CLIMATE BRIEFING
Staying on top of the legal and policy developments in the climate change arena is no small task. The panelists discussed the future of climate legislation and regulations, international negotiations, and other significant issues that practitioners should follow.

Speakers:
Vicki Arroyo, Executive Director, Georgetown Climate Center, Georgetown University Law Center (moderator)
Kyle W. Danish, Partner, Van Ness Feldman, P.C.
James R. May, Professor of Law, Widener University
Manik Roy, Director of Congressional Affairs for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change

Additional Materials:
James May, Prominent Climate Change Cases and Hot Climate Litigation
Kyle Danish, Greenhouse Gas Regulation at the EPA

UNDERSTANDING THE NEW AIR POLLUTION RULES, 9:30 - 11:00 AM
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency embarked on an ambitious schedule of air pollution rulemaking following the vacatur of several Bush administration rulemakings. The "transport rule" seeks to cap interstate emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from power plants to replace the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). Also scheduled are: a plan to review and update hazardous air pollution rules covering 28 types of industrial facilities, rules limiting mercury and other toxic emissions including arsenic, dioxins, and hydrochloric acid, national health standards for ozone, and BACT standards that will likely address greenhouse gases. Panelists discussed how these various rules interrelate and how they might fit with legislative developments in the next two years.

Speakers:
Chuck Knauss, Partner, Bingham McCutchen LLP (moderator)
Michael J. Bradley, President, M.J. Bradley & Associates
Robert D. Brenner, Director, Office of Policy Analysis and Review, Office of Air and Radiation, US EPA
John Walke, Clean Air Director/Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council

Additional Materials:
Below are four presentations that were discussed at past meetings of EPA's Clean Air Act Advisory Committee. The first three are EPA presentations and the fourth is an external non-EPA document. These are presented for discussion purposes only.
Sector-Based Multipollutant Approaches for Stationary Sources discusses the Office of Air and Radiation's efforts to coordinate the development of air toxics (MACT) and new source performance standards (NSPS) in industrial sectors. EPA presentation.
Petroleum Refinery Sector Update presents some of the ongoing work regarding the petroleum refinery sector. EPA presentation.
Moving to Multi-Pollutant Sector-Based Approaches presents some of the incremental steps EPA is taking to develop integrated approaches to air pollution control. EPA presentation.
A Conceptual Framework for a Source-wide Multi-pollutant Strategy is a paper prepared by Patrick Traylor of Hogan Lovells. It is a consolidated discussion of many of the challenges associated with moving towards a sector-based multi-pollutant approach within the requirements of the existing Clean Air Act. EPA does not advocate any of the positions described in the paper. Rather, we welcomed this paper as a catalyst for discussion.

Members may log in to access mp3 recordings.

This event was made possible by the generous support of our ELI members.