Here are seven of the most important developments affecting the environment.
2015 was a big year for agency regulations and international negotiations. In 2016, the main focal points will be the political process and the courts. Here are seven major things to watch for.
The Presidential Election. The election will have huge consequences for the environment. A Republican President is almost sure to try to roll back most of the environmental initiatives of the Obama Administration, undoing all the progress that has been made on climate change and other issues – and we might also see efforts to undo earlier environmental legislation.
The Senate. No one seems to think that control of the House of Representatives is at issue in this year’s election, but control of the Senate is potentially in play. If Republicans win the Presidency and keep both houses of Congress, we’re likely to see major efforts to undo earlier environmental laws. With a Democrat in the White House, Senate control would provide more leverage against a Republican House.
The Clean Power Plan. This regulation is the key to federal climate policy. It seems almost certain to go to the Supreme Court, but that might not happen until 2017. In the meantime, we’ll see what the D.C. Circuit does, beginning early in the year when the court decides whether to issue a stay.
WOTUS. WOTUS – for the benefit of the uninitiated, that’s Waters of the United States – is a rule that defines federal jurisdiction over water bodies and wetlands. It’s already tied up in litigation, and depending on how that proceeds, we may or may not have a resolution next year.
New Regulations. The government proposed blockbuster rules last year. There’s nothing equally big on the agenda, but there are likely to be some smaller yet significant rules between now and the time a new President takes office in January 2016. A number of regulatory initiatives are expected to address oil and gas activities on federal lands and offshore. You can expect to hear howls from the industry over these regulations. EPA will also roll out supplemental rules relating to the Clean Power Plan. DOE is planning some important new rules on energy efficiency.
Mercury Regulations. EPA plans to make a new finding in April relating to mercury pollution from power plants in response to the Supreme Court’s decision this year in Michigan v EPA. We’ll see at that point how the D.C. Circuit responds.
Toxic Regulation Reform. The Toxic Substances Control Act was something of a legislative train wreck, which has never really functioned effectively. In 2015, both houses of Congress passed bipartisan reforms. The question is whether they’ll be able to come to an agreement in 2016 about how to proceed. There’s a division among environmental groups about whether adoption of the reforms would be a good thing or a bad thing.
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Daniel Farber | January 4, 2016
Here are seven of the most important developments affecting the environment. 2015 was a big year for agency regulations and international negotiations. In 2016, the main focal points will be the political process and the courts. Here are seven major things to watch for. The Presidential Election. The election will have huge consequences for the environment. A Republican […]
Katie Tracy | December 22, 2015
As the year draws to a close and the New Year approaches, people all around the world will be contemplating what they can resolve to do better in 2016. This year, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) seem to be celebrating the tradition as well. In a move akin […]
Matt Shudtz | December 21, 2015
This afternoon, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that it was sending its final version of a long-awaited rule on silica dust in the workplace to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for final review. CPR Executive Director Matthew Shudtz responded to the news with the following statement: Workers across the United […]
Alice Kaswan | December 21, 2015
As we seek to understand and assess the Paris Agreement over the coming months and years, we will continue to contemplate the critical underlying political and ethical question: who should be responsible? And to what degree should that responsibility take the form of direct action versus providing support in the form of financing, technology transfer, […]
| December 18, 2015
A few months ago, I recounted the recent history of budget cuts to Maryland environmental agencies and their effect on the state of environmental inspections and enforcement in the state over the last two decades. Fortunately, it appears that an opportunity to change this situation has presented itself to policymakers in Annapolis. Recently, at the […]
James Goodwin | December 16, 2015
This week appears to mark the end of an extraordinary period in the history of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), the shadowy bureau charged with reviewing and revising pending agency rules, which too often ensures they are not overly inconvenient for affected industries. For the last month and a half, […]
Daniel Farber | December 15, 2015
If we’re serious about keeping warming “well below” 2 degrees C, geoengineering may be necessary. The Paris agreement establishes an aspirational goal of holding climate change to 1.5 degrees C, with a firmer goal of holding the global temperature decrease “well below” 2 degrees C. As a practical matter, the 1.5 degrees C goal almost […]
| December 10, 2015
In the latest draft treaty text from Thursday evening in Paris two contentious issues seem to be resolved: how often the agreement will be reviewed after it is adopted (“stocktaking”) and whether the reviews should involve ever-more-stringent commitments by the parties (“ratcheting”). The background here is that the greenhouse gas reduction commitments made so far by 185 […]
James Goodwin | December 9, 2015
This morning, CPR President and Loyola University, New Orleans, Law Professor Robert R.M. Verchick testifies at a hearing convened by the Senate Budget Committee to examine a dangerous regulatory policy proposal known as “regulatory budgeting.” As he explains in his testimony, regulatory budgeting represents a stark departure from the traditional focus of regulatory policy discussions, […]