EPA’s Spring 2024 regulatory agenda now available

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the Spring 2024 Semiannual Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions on July 5, 2024. The agenda shows the agency’s upcoming regulatory actions and where they are in the rulemaking process.

The agenda includes major EPA updates, such as:

• Establishing a management program for hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that implements emissions-reduction requirements for certain pieces of equipment using refrigerants containing HFCs and their substitutes, with an expected publishing date for the final rule in August 2024;
• Finalizing a rule in October 2024 to have nearly all water systems replace lead service lines within 10 years, reduce the lead action level, and improve tap sampling;
• Implementing a Waste Emissions Charge program that requires oil and natural gas facilities to pay an annual charge for exceeding methane and intensity thresholds, with an expected publishing date for the final rule in December 2024;
• Proposing a rule in March 2025 that establishes the Renewable Fuel Standards beginning in 2026 for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel; and
• Publishing a proposed rule in April 2025 that, if finalized, reinstates reporting requirements for animal waste air emissions at farms under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).

While you’ll want to review the entire agenda to learn about all the rulemakings on EPA’s docket, this article highlights some of the major rules we’re watching closely. Also, please note that the agenda dates are tentative, the times by which the agency hopes to publish the rulemakings in the Federal Register.