Recent Projects

In November 2020, EPA finalized a rule withdrawing the “Once-in, Always-in” Policy, under which facilities that are “major sources” of emissions at the first compliance date for the applicable standard must comply permanently with the requirements for a major source. This 2020 Rule allows major sources of toxic air pollution to reclassify as area sources, which are subject to less stringent or no emission control requirements. The 2020 Rule therefore creates the potential for very large increases in toxic air pollution. In September 2023, EPA proposed new safeguards to prevent increased emissions from sources that reclassify and restores federal enforceability requirements for potential to emit limits. We submitted comments on the analysis underlying the proposed new safeguards.

On November 9th, the White House finalized its revision of Circular A-4, the primary guidance on how federal agencies should assess the costs and benefits of regulations. This document plays a critical role in federal policymaking, and it had not been updated in two decades. The new guidance represents a major improvement over current practice and incorporates numerous changes that Policy Integrity has long recommended.

In September 2023, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposed a regulation to improve the safety of certain gas pipelines. The standards include a suite of reforms to help prevent incidents like the catastrophic 2018 gas pipeline explosions in Merrimack Valley, Massachusetts. In a comment letter, we explain that, while the Proposed Rule and its accompanying regulatory impact analysis are well grounded in applicable statutes and guidance, PHMSA should take further steps to bolster its analysis.

The 2017 Tax Act directed Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to conduct two sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) area known as Coastal Plain totaling at least 400,000 acres by 2024. BLM released a final environmental impact statement (EIS) in September 2019 considering the over 1.5 million-acre area in the ANWR and held the first lease sale in January 2021. Later in 2021, the agency placed a moratorium on all activities relating to BLM’s Coastal Plain leasing program, announced that the analysis conducted in 2019 was legally deficient, and began to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement. We filed comments on this new EIS and arged that the presentation of climate costs and benefits in the analysis could be made more complete and balanced. 

In October 2023, the Michigan Public Service Commission issued an order in the benefit cost analysis (BCA) matter for which we filed comments in June. The order adopts several of our recommendations, and specifically cites us for several of them.

In August 2023, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed a regulation to strengthen corporate average fuel economy standards for passenger cars, light trucks, and heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans. In a comment letter, we explain that while the Proposed Rule and its accompanying regulatory impact analysis offer useful starting points, NHTSA should take further steps to ensure the complete presentation of regulatory benefits and costs and should select a regulatory option that best promotes social welfare, consistent with the agency’s legal obligations. We also submitted joint comments with a coalition of other environmental groups on NHTSA’s use of the social cost of greenhouses gases in the Proposed Rule.

In October 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a proposed rule that bans the use of “junk fees” in transactions including hotel reservations, vehicle rentals, and event ticket purchases. The proposed rule references Policy Integrity and our work more than a dozen times, including both our 2021 petition for rulemaking and our 2023 comment letter supporting the FTC’s authority to issue this regulation.

Policy Integrity submitted comments to FERC in support of American Clean Power Association’s petition for a technical conference on capacity accreditation. Holding a technical conference would be appropriate because accurate accreditation is becoming increasingly difficult as grids accommodate rapidly changing resource mixes with varying energy and reliability attributes, public policy constraints, and increasing/unprecedented extreme weather events. Moreover, accreditation has become more consequential, as capacity market revenues have grown to a significant share of total market payments. We included several questions that would merit discussion at the technical conference.

The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a proposed rule under 16 U.S.C. § 824p(h) to expedite the federal authorization of transmission projects. We commented in support of the proposal, including DOE's proposed requirement that project proponents describe how the transmission project would affect power-system greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We recommended that DOE clarify that project proponents must also estimate changes to non-power-system GHG emissions (e.g., upstream emissions of natural gas) and power-system emissions of local air pollutants. We also suggested that DOE provide additional guidance on the meaning of terms like "disadvantaged communities" and "communities with environmental justice concerns." Finally, we argued that DOE should provide an opportunity for public comment at the pre-application stage of the process.

In July, the Council on Environmental Quality proposed revisions to the implementing regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act. The Proposed Rule reflects a more holistic approach to informing agency decisions with a robust and balanced analysis of environmental impacts. In our comment letter, we suggested improvements to the proposal that would help ensure robust and balanced treatment of environmental impacts in NEPA reviews.