American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2019 - 18

contribute to high levels of ozone in
downwind states must be changed, a
federal court says.
Ruling in State of New York v. EPA,
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit vacated the
agency's Close-Out Rule, which said
upwind states exceeding National
Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS) for ozone didn't have to take
any additional actions in relief of
downwind states' ozone concentrations.
According to media sources, the
Trump-era Close-Out Rule relied on the
Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
(CSAPR) introduced under President
Barack Obama. In September, the
appeals court ordered EPA to reexamine the 2016 regulation. The
Wisconsin v. EPA decision ordered the
agency to rework the rule to ensure
upwind states reduce emissions of
ozone precursors by the same deadline
imposed on downwind states meeting
federal ozone standards.
"EPA acknowledges (that) the CloseOut Rule 'relied upon the same
statutory interpretation of the Good
Neighbor Provision' that we rejected in
Wisconsin. Thus, the agency's defense
of the Close-Out Rule in these cases is
foreclosed," the D.C. court wrote.
EPA issued the 2016 rule on behalf of
22 upwind states, the court says. It
imposed emission reductions that the
agency said would diminish, but not
eliminate, the states' significant
contributions to downwind nonattainment
by a 2018 deadline. In 2018, EPA
released the Close-Out Rule

Determination Regarding Good Neighbor
Obligation for the 2008 ozone NAAQS.
Court documents say it purported to
resolve the Good Neighbor obligations of
20 upwind states for the 2008 standard.
"The EPA found that it would not be
feasible to impose any cost-effective
emissions reductions before 2023-two
years after the serious areas attainment
deadline in 2021," the court states. "The
EPA further found that all downwind
states would reach attainment by 2023,
even with no further reductions from
upwind states. For those reasons, the
Close-Out Rule required no further
upwind reductions beyond those set
forth in the CSAPR update."
The D.C. court says EPA is
considering whether to seek a rehearing
or rehearing en banc in Wisconsin, as
well as State of New York. ❒

Governor Announces
Pennsylvania Will Join
Regional GHG Program
HARRISBURG, PA.-Pennsylvania
Governor Tom Wolf in early October
signed an executive order to bring his
state into the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative (RGGI), a multistate
greenhouse gas emissions cap-andtrade program, reports the
Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas
Association, which adds that the move
has drawn objections from some
legislators who question the governor's
authority to do so.

The New Mexico Oil & Gas Association announced two winners of
its Jason Kellahin Award for outstanding contributions to the oil and
gas industry as well as to the association, during its 2019 annual
convention, Oct. 6-8 in Santa Fe, N.M. LEFT: NMOGA President Ryan
Flynn presents the first Kellahin Award to Leslie Garvis, regulatory
and government affairs manager for Burnett Oil Co. in Fort Worth,

18 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

According to PIOGA, Wolf's Oct. 3
EO requires the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental
Protection to develop by July 31, 2020,
a proposed rule-making package to
abate, control or limit carbon dioxide
emissions from fossil-fuel-fired electric
power generators. It also requires DEP
to work with the Public Utility
Commission to engage with PJM
Interconnection-which coordinates the
movement of wholesale electricity in
the region-to integrate the program.
A report by the Allegheny Institute for
Public Policy notes that RGGI requires
fossil-fueled electric power generators
with a capacity of at least 25 megawatts
to buy allowances equal to the CO2
emission caps the program has allotted.
Participating states auction the
allowances and are supposed to invest the
revenue in energy efficiency, renewable
energy and other consumer benefits.
The analysis points to studies
showing 64% higher electricity rates in
RGGI states, while noting that the
Keystone State already has excelled at
cutting GHGs. "Natural gas, which
emits less CO2 than coal, has largely
replaced coal as the leading fuel for
generating electricity in the state," it
notes. "The Environmental Protection
Agency's data for CO2 emissions in
Pennsylvania showcases the
extraordinary results: CO2 emissions in
the state from 2000 to 2016 fell 26%."
PIOGA notes that the Wolf
administration cites Pennsylvania's
1960 Air Pollution Control Act and the
federal Clean Air Act as the statutory

who served four years as co-chair of the association's Southeast
Public Lands Committee. RIGHT: Flynn pauses with Jason Kellahin
Award winner Ben Bosell, supervisor and counsel for Chevron
U.S.A. in Houston, whom Flynn credited with re-energizing the
NMOGA Legal Committee during a three year stint as committee
chairman. NMOGA annual meeting coverage begins on page 67.
American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2019

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