Audit, Compliance and Risk Blog

California enacts two new climate-related reporting laws

Posted by Jon Elliott on Thu, Dec 14, 2023

On October 7, 2023, California’s governor Gavin Newsom signed two important bills expanding climate-related reporting requirements for targeted organizations doing business in the state – SB 253 (Wiener) (Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) and SB 261 (Stern). These requirements will be administered by the California Air Resources Board (ARB), which already includes most state greenhouse gas (GHG) regulatory requirements within its extensive air quality and climate authority (centered on the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32). The remainder of these note discusses these new requirements.

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Tags: Environmental, Greenhouse Gas, ghg, California, Environment, Environmental Policy

Washington conducts first sales under its new state greenhouse gas cap-and-invest program

Posted by Jon Elliott on Mon, Mar 20, 2023

The Washington state Department of Ecology (Ecology) has just conducted its first auction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission allowances, under the state’s Climate Commitment Act (or CCA) which establishes a comprehensive, market-based program to reduce carbon pollution and achieve greenhouse gas limits set in state law. The CCA was one of a package of climate-related laws passed in 2021, including the Clean Fuel Standard, and an expanded hydrofluorocarbons management program. The remainder of this note discusses CCA and the recent sale of GHG allowances.

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Tags: Greenhouse Gas, ghg, greenhouse, CO2 Emissions, Washington, CCA

US tightens federal standards for heavy-duty vehicles

Posted by Jon Elliott on Wed, Feb 08, 2023

On January 24, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published tighter standards for emissions from “heavy-duty” engines and vehicles, beginning with model year 2027. These new standards form the important first step toward implementation of EPA’s Clean Truck Plan, which has the ultimate goal of zero emissions from motor vehicles. The new standards are more than 80% stronger than current standards, which have been in place more than 20 years. These changes therefore continue the recent trend toward tighter federal emission standards for motor vehicles, including light-duty vehicles (automobiles and light trucks; I discussed the latest rules for light-duty vehicles, covering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for model years 2023-2026 HERE). The remainder of this note discusses the latest heavy-duty vehicle standards.

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Tags: EPA, ghg, CAA

Proposal to Require Climate Risks and Resilience Plans from Significant Federal Suppliers

Posted by Jon Elliott on Mon, Nov 28, 2022

On November 10, the Biden Administration announced a proposal to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to require “major federal suppliers” and “significant federal suppliers” to disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and assessments of climate-related risks, and to set targets for GHG emission reductions. The rest of this note summarizes this proposal.

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Tags: Environmental, Greenhouse Gas, ghg, CO2 Emissions, Environment, Environmental Policy, Climate, FAR, NASA, DOD

Mandatory GHG EPA Reports Due April 1, 2022

Posted by Jon Elliott on Tue, Feb 22, 2022

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to expand and refine environmental compliance requirements, including those related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In particular, facilities and organizations subject to EPA's mandatory GHG emission reporting rules should be preparing to submit reports covering calendar year 2021. The remainder of this note summarizes these requirements.

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Tags: EPA, Greenhouse Gas, ghg, Environment

US tightens federal standards for greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles

Posted by Jon Elliott on Mon, Jan 24, 2022

During the last decade, federal state authorities have sparred with themselves and with states over regulatory standards limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from automobiles. Nationally, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) share authority over fleetwide and individual vehicle standards. EPA applies authority under the Clean Air act (CAA) and NHTSA applies authority under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA) including Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards. In addition, the state of California has unique CAA authority over vehicle emission; in recent years, Democratic presidential administrations generally produce federal-state cooperation, whereas Republican presidential administrations produce conflicts. (I’ve written about these issues several times, most recently HERE). True to this pattern, on December 21, 2021 EPA issued tighter vehicle emission rules covering Model Years (MY) 2023 through 2026, and NHTSA rescinded its (Trump era) rule preempting California’s stricter GHG emission standards. The remainder of this note discusses these new rules, within the context of ongoing rulemakings.

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Tags: Environmental, Greenhouse Gas, ghg, CO2 Emissions

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative prepares to add a new member

Posted by Jon Elliott on Wed, Aug 05, 2020

One of the longest running sub-national greenhouse gas (GHG) control efforts in the U.S. has been the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) program. RGGI provides a cap-and-trade program covering GHG emissions from targeted fossil fuel power plants in participating northeastern states. The program is preparing to add a new participating state in 2021 -- Virginia.

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Tags: Environmental, Greenhouse Gas, ghg, RGGI, Fossil Fuel, CO2 Emissions

Northeastern States Propose Regional Cap-and-Trade Program to Reduce Greenhouse Gases From Transportation

Posted by Jon Elliott on Tue, Feb 04, 2020

After nearly a decade of talking and planning, most of the northeast and middle Atlantic states (plus the District of Columbia) in the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) have proposed a cap-and-trade program intended to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation. On October 1, TCI issued a “Framework for a Draft Regional Policy Proposal,” and on December 17 a formal “Draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)” that jurisdictions can sign to formalize their participation. If things go well, the formal program should begin in 2020.

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Tags: Business & Legal, Environmental risks, Environmental, Greenhouse Gas, ghg, cap-and-trade

Feds Issue Nationwide Motor Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Standards and Declare California’s Standards to be Preempted

Posted by Jon Elliott on Tue, Oct 22, 2019

The federal government has taken another step in its car wars with California. Late in September the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued joint rules declaring NHTSA’s preemptive authority to set national standards covering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from petroleum-fueled vehicles and electric vehicles, and revoking a waiver from EPA that lets California set such standards.

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Tags: California Legislation, Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA, ghg, Transportation, greenhouse

DC Circuit Upholds Most of EPA’s 2015 Standards For Ground Level Ozone

Posted by Jon Elliott on Tue, Sep 17, 2019

On August 23, the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC Circuit) upheld most aspects of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ground level ozone adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2015. The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires EPA to create a list of air pollutants based on emissions that cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare (criteria pollutants), to establish NAAQS based on these criteria, and to review the NAAQS every 5 years.

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Tags: Business & Legal, Health & Safety, Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA, Greenhouse Gas, ghg, CAA