In the News

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law strengthened the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authority to site interstate transmission projects that have been rejected or not acted upon by states. Used appropriately, this authority can help the United States build the transmission infrastructure necessary to achieve President Joe Biden’s goal of fully decarbonizing the electricity grid by 2035.

On May 15th, Policy Integrity hosted a webinar that brought together researchers focusing on energy insecurity and policymakers who may be able to use their findings. Presenters focused on interesting, yet often-overlooked questions about how energy insecurity is often measured incorrectly, how insecurity-driven transitions can end up benefiting fossil fuels, and how some relevant actors in the energy system don’t actually receive transition incentives. The answers to these questions were often surprising and may prove useful in future government decisionmaking.

Questions remain regarding whether DOE’s and FERC’s recently expanded authority under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“IIJA”) is enough to override historical state jurisdiction over the transmission siting processes, and whether the implementation of this federal authority can withstand judicial review. While it will likely be years before the new promulgation of this authority is tested in practice, in the short-term there are plenty of opportunities for interested entities to help shape these processes going forward. The Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law further suggest expanding the definition of environmental justice communities beyond those “overburdened by pollution” to include historically marginalized communities bearing any type of disproportionate environmental burden. Expanding these definitions would result in broadened environmental reviews and increased public participation in FERC’s review processes.

CPSC member Richard Trumka Jr. said in January that the agency was considering a ban on gas stoves, calling them a “hidden hazard.” These comments followed reports from groups such as the Institute for Policy Integrity and American Chemistry Society that connected gas stoves to health risks.

As part of the symposium on Modernizing Regulatory Review, Max Sarinsky, senior attorney at Policy Integrity, discusses the economic and legal implications of the draft update to Circular A-4.

A bill to raise the national debt ceiling would greenlight all permits needed for the Mountain Valley pipeline’s “construction and initial operation at full capacity,” according to text released Sunday. If the bill is approved by congress, "MVP's approvals would be virtually unassailable, unless someone were to challenge the legislative provision itself," said Jennifer Danis, federal energy policy director at New York University's Institute for Policy Integrity.

Richard Revesz is changing the way the government calculates the cost and benefits of regulation, with far-reaching implications for climate change. He co-founded an N.Y.U.-affiliated think tank, the Institute for Policy Integrity, which devised the approach to analyzing the costs and benefits of environmental regulations that Mr. Revesz has brought to the White House.

Scholars discuss modernizing regulatory review, with new pieces on artificial intelligence and the duty to respond to public comments, the stochastic nature of cost-benefit analysis, and more.

Leading global experts on discount rates and cost-benefit analysis support a proposed revision to a document known as Circular A-4. As these experts explain, economic evidence and scholarship from recent years consistently support the use of lower discount rates in regulatory analysis and are consistent with the proposed updates.

Over the next two weeks, the Notice & Comment's symposium on modernizing regulatory review will feature a wide range of scholar and practitioner reactions to President Biden’s recently issued Executive Order 14,094 and related draft guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). To get you situated, this introduction provides some background on the relevant documents.