Laws & Regulations

"A federal judge in Waco has ruled in favor of power generator Luminant against claims from the Sierra Club it had broken state and federal air pollution laws."

"WASHINGTON — The chief of a federal agency tasked with improving the safety of crude oil shipments by rail declined Wednesday to give lawmakers a date for new tank car rules that railroads and safety officials have sought for years."

"Tesoro Corp. blocked the U.S. Chemical Safety Board from investigating an incident at a Northern California refinery and downplayed the extent of workers’ injuries, the board said."

"DURHAM, N.C. — North Carolina regulators who have been accused of lax oversight abruptly announced Tuesday that they may force Duke Energy to move its riverfront ash basin to a lined landfill away from waterways after one of its plants leaked tons of toxic coal ash into a major river."

"Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) requested an independent audit today of the State Department's environmental review system for projects such as Keystone XL, his latest step to protest the Obama administration's handling of the controversial oil sands crude pipeline."

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), who played a key role in shaping the environmental legislation of the modern era, has announced he will retire. As he represented the auto industry in his Detroit district, that environmental legacy was mixed.

"The Supreme Court’s swing vote on Monday voiced skepticism of a key plank in the Obama administration’s efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions."

"A federal court [Thursday] scrapped the so-called Stream Buffer Zone Rule promulgated under President George W. Bush to govern strip-mining activities."

"Starting Monday, a federal judge in Waco will hear arguments from the Sierra Club that Luminant Generation Company, the state’s largest electric generator, has been spewing far more pollution into the air from an East Texas coal plant than is allowed by federal and state law."

"WASHINGTON — President Obama in recent days has been announcing muscular executive actions to address climate change, making good on his promise to act on pressing problems “with or without Congress.” On Monday, the Supreme Court will consider the limits of that approach, in a case on greenhouse gas emissions."