On July 22, 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a guide to assist EPA staff in determining whether its actions raise environmental justice concerns.  The concept of environmental justice involves the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.  More specifically, environmental justice means that minorities, low-income groups, indigenous populations and tribes should not bear a disproportionate burden of environmental harms and risks, and should have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the development of environmental regulations and policies.
 
In order to incorporate environmental justice into the EPA's regulatory scheme, the interim guidance document provides a roadmap that EPA working groups can use to provide a voice to environmental justice communities.  This roadmap asks EPA workgroups to respond to three questions during the rule-making/policy-making process:

1. How did your public participation process provide transparency and meaningful participation for minority, low-income, indigenous populations and tribes?
2. How did you identify and address existing and new disproportionate environmental and public health impacts on environmental justice communities?
3. How did the actions taken under #1 and #2 affect the final decision?

As the EPA begins to consider environmental justice concerns in its actions, it is anticipated that the interim guide will be revised and updated later this year.  For more information, visit the EPA's Web site to read the EPA's Interim Guidance on Considering Environmental Justice During the Development of an Action.

Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Co. announced the launch of its Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecard and rating process to measure and improve the environmental performance of its key suppliers. The new scorecard will assess P&G suppliers' environmental footprint and encourage continued improvement by annually measuring energy use, water use, waste disposal and greenhouse gas emissions. P&G is hoping that its scorecard will become the industry standard for evaluating supplier sustainability. News of the announcement can be found here. The scorecard itself can be found here.

The Ohio Supreme Court recently affirmed the ruling of the Ohio Power Siting Board granting FirstEnergy's transmission affiliate a certificate for the construction of a new transmission line in Geauga County, Ohio. You can read the Opinion here. Wind developers going through the Ohio Power Siting Board process, however, should take note of the strong concurring opinion of Justice Pfeiffer. Justice Pfeiffer expressed his concerns that the Board "may not be giving appropriate consideration to aesthetic values." Further explaining his position, Justice Pfeiffer noted that the "members of the Power Siting Board should ensure that their staff members are aware of the importance of preserving nature and scenery when considering sites for utility resources, without of course unduly sacrificing economic impact."

On May 13, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued its final rule bringing greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources under the permitting programs of the Clean Air Act. The 515 page final rule specifically “tailors” the requirements of the Clean Air Act to attempt to limit the number of facilities requiring permits under the New Source Review Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V programs. To do so, the rule establishes a phased-in approach under which all new facilities emitting 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per year (and existing facilities that complete modifications increasing GHG emissions by at least 75,000 metric tons of CO2e per year) would be subject to the rule starting in July 2011. For more information, a copy of the final rule can be found at http://www.epa.gov/nsr/documents/20100413final.pdf.

US EPA released its final greenhouse gas rule late last week.  The rule currently  targets only large emitters of greenhouse gases to report their emissions, and it is estimated that the rule will account for nearly 85% of all GHG emissions in the United States.  It is widely expected that the implementation of any carbon legislation proposal will make this mandatory reporting more significant and will be the basis for metrics going forward.  A summary of the new rule can be found at Bricker & Eckler's website.

Today the Tenth District (Franklin County, Ohio) Court of Appeals issued a ruling denying an unopposed motion to stop ERAC's practice of scheduling one-hour de novo hearings to satisfy a December 15, 2009 deadline imposed by Ohio's recently enacted budget bill. ERAC hears appeals from decisions by the Director of Ohio EPA, including appeals of permits for renewable energy projects (if such permits are required for the project). According to the new statutory deadlines, ERAC must decide appeals within one year from the filing of the appeal and for some pending appeals (filed before April 15, 2009), ERAC must decide the appeals by December 15, 2009. These latter appeals, numbering about 300 appeals, have been scheduled for one-hour hearings in October and November of this year. The Court of Appeals denied relief from this expedited scheduling.

View copy of ruling