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September 10-16, 2022
In this week's issue:
- EPA Finalizes Determinations of Attainment Under 2008 and 2015 Ozone NAAQS (September 15, 2022)
- Biden Administration Approves Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding for First 35 State EV Infrastructure Plans (September 14, 2022)
- Federal Procurement to Prioritize Low Carbon Construction Materials (September 15, 2022)
- New Coalition Calls for Administration to Take Action to Meet Climate Goals (September 12, 2022)
This Week in Review
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EPA finalized determinations of attainment for certain areas classified as nonattainment under the 2008 and 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone. Regarding the 2008 ozone NAAQS, EPA has finalized actions for six areas that were classified Serious nonattainment and were to have attained by July 20, 2021. Based on monitoring data for 2018 through 2020 EPA has determined that the Greater Connecticut, CT area attained the 2008 ozone standard by July 20, 2021 and that five areas – Dallas-Fort Worth, TX; Denver-Boulder-Greeley-Ft. Collins-Loveland, CO; Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX; New York-Northern NJ-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT; and Morongo Band of Mission Indians – failed to attain the 2008 standard by July 20, 2021, and will be reclassified as Severe nonattainment with a new attainment date of July 20, 2027. These reclassifications will take effect 30 days after publication of the Federal Register notice for these final actions. Regarding the 2015 ozone NAAQS, EPA has finalized actions for 28 areas that were classified Marginal nonattainment and were to have attained by August 3, 2021. Based on monitoring data for 2018 through 2020 EPA has determined that five areas – Atlanta, GA; Southern Wasatch Front, UT; Amador County, CA; San Francisco Bay, CA; and Yuma, AZ – attained the 2015 standard by August 3, 2021. EPA has granted the request of Uinta Basin, UT, for a one-year attainment date extension to August 3, 2022. EPA has determined that the following 22 areas failed to attain the 2015 standard by August 3, 2021 and will be reclassified as Moderate nonattainment with a new attainment date of August 3, 2024: Allegan County, MI; Baltimore, MD; Berrien County, MI; Chicago, IL-IN-WI; Cincinnati, OH-KY; Cleveland, OH; Dallas-Fort Worth, TX; Denver Metro/North Front Range, CO; Greater Connecticut, CT; Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX; Louisville, KY-IN; Mariposa County, CA; Milwaukee, WI; Muskegon County, MI; North Wasatch Front, UT; Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians of the Pechanga Reservation; Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-MD-DE; Phoenix-Mesa, AZ; San Antonio, TX; Sheboygan County, WI; St. Louis, MO-IL; and Washington, DC-MD-VA. These reclassifications will take effect 30 days after publication of the Federal Register notice for these final actions.
For further information:
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the approval, ahead of schedule, of Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Deployment Plans for 33 states, the District of Columbia (DC) and Puerto Rico. Funding for such plans is provided and apportioned for all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program established under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). NEVI makes $900 million available for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 to construct EV chargers across over 50,000 miles of highway across the nation. In total, the BIL makes $5 billion available over five years. In a press statement announcing the plan approvals, DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “Today, with funding in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are taking an important step to build a nationwide electric vehicle charging network where finding a charge is as easy as locating a gas station. With the first set of approvals we are announcing today, 35 states across the country – with Democratic and Republican governors – will be moving forward to use these funds to install EV chargers at regular, reliable intervals along their highways.” U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm added, “Making electric vehicle charging accessible to all Americans is critical to achieving a transportation sector that improves our environment and lessens our dependence on oil and gas. This first group of 35 plans from States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico now have the green light to build their pieces of the national charging network to ensure drivers can spend less on transportation costs while commuting confidently by charging along the way.” At the Detroit Auto Show, President Biden also remarked on the approval of the state EV Infrastructure Deployment Plans saying, “the great American road trip is going to be fully electrified.” DOT, working in close coordination with DOE, will continue to review state plans on a rolling basis. As each plan is approved, the state DOT will be able to access its NEVI Formula Program Funds to develop its EV charging infrastructure.
For further information:
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/nevi/ev_deployment_plans/ and
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/evs_5year_nevi_funding_by_state.cfm and
The White House has announced a new “Buy Clean” initiative for the General Services Administration and other agencies, in which federal procurement of construction materials like concrete, steel, asphalt and flat glass will prioritize lower embodied greenhouse gas emissions. Those four products account for nearly half of U.S. manufacturing emissions and amount to 98 percent of the government’s construction material purchases. The Buy Clean initiative will also favor proposals for federally funded projects that use lower-carbon construction materials. Multiple federal agencies have roles, including the Departments of Commerce, State, Transportation, Energy, Defense, and Agriculture, among others. For its part, EPA will amplify technical assistance for “energy efficiency across manufacturing facilities with access to the ENERGY STAR program for industry’s plant energy performance benchmarking tools, and enabling facility-level industrial carbon emissions via facility benchmarking data in the GHG Reporting Program and EPA’s Center for Corporate Climate Leadership.” EPA will also be working to improve environmental product declaration guidelines. The Buy Clean initiative will expand reporting and data collection across the federal government to improve transparency of greenhouse gas emissions generated throughout supply chains, according to a White House fact sheet. For further information:
A coalition of over 160 public interest organizations are banding together to launch the “Solutions for Pollution” campaign, which is intended to urge the Administration to take urgent action to address climate change. The organizations are led by the Climate Action Campaign and include environmental, climate, public health, environmental justice, youth and clean energy groups. They are calling for the Administration to implement approximately 20 specific actions across the federal government intended to approach the 50-52-percent reduction in climate pollution by 2030 through an “all-of-government” approach that the Administration promised. The recommended actions focus on:
- “Cleaning Up Power Plants and Industrial Pollution,” which includes air quality standards for smog and particulates, carbon standards for industrial sources, good-neighbor plans, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, oil and methane standards, coal ash requirements and powerplant wastewater standards;
- “Cleaning Up Transportation,” which includes standards for heavy-duty vehicles, cars and light trucks; and
- “Using Economic Power to Limit Climate Risk and Drive a Cleaner Marketplace,” which includes a Corporate Climate Risk Disclosure Rule (under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), a buy-clean federal procurement initiative, standards for household products pollution and appliance efficiency standards.
For further information:
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