The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is due to receive self-nominations from small businesses to take part as small entity representatives on an advocacy review panel to revise greenhouse gas emission limits for heavy-duty vehicles. The revisions will focus on the agency’s rule to establish a new phase of greenhouse gas requirements for trucks and heavy-duty engines that would take effect in the model year 2030. The proposal marks the third phase of a comprehensive plan designed to reduce emissions from the transportation sector. READ MORE

The Bureau of Land Management is due to receive comments on a draft supplemental environmental review for ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.’s proposed Willow Master Development Plan, an oil and gas development project in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The draft addresses shortcomings identified by the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska in a ruling issued in August 2021 that vacated approvals for the project. The court found that the federal government failed to consider the project’s climate and wildlife impacts. The project is expected to produce up to 590 million barrels of oil during its 30-year life with a processing capacity of 200,000 barrels per day and estimated peak production of over 160,000 barrels of oil per day.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is due to receive comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in its environmental assessment for the Northern Lights 2023 Expansion Project involving the construction and operation of natural gas pipeline and associated facilities in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The project, proposed by Northern Natural Gas Company, would provide for incremental winter firm service of 44,222 dekatherms per day serving residential, commercial and industrial customer market growth in the company’s market area and 6,667 Dth/day of additional firm service that would allow a shipper enhanced reliability and flexibility in scheduling their transportation capacity. The commission will use environmental review in its decision-making process to determine whether the project is in the public convenience and necessity. CP22-138-000

The Bureau of Land Management will hold a competitive geothermal lease sale offering 81 parcels totaling about 237,039 acres in Battle Mountain, Carson City, Elko, and Winnemucca districts, Nevada. The state has 26 plants, which can theoretically generate up to 827 megawatts of power collectively in any given hour, according to the Nevada Commission on Mineral Resources. The bureau said that the sale supports President Biden’s goal of attaining a carbon-free power sector by 2035, with at least 25 gigawatts of solar, wind, and geothermal production on public lands by 2025. Geothermal was the first renewable resource approved for production on public lands, with the first project approved in 1978. The agency issues leases for a 10-year period.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is due to receive comments on the preparation of a programmatic environmental impact statement on future wind development in the New York Bight, an area of shallow waters between Long Island and the New Jersey coast. The agency’s February 2022 auction for six leases in the New York Bight fetched over $4.3 billion in lease sale revenue, a record amount for any U.S. offshore renewable or conventional energy lease sale. The programmatic review will analyze the potential impacts of wind energy development activities and the change in those impacts that could result from adopting programmatic avoidance, minimization, mitigation, and monitoring measures.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold an information session to discuss its $8 million grant opportunity for tribal and certain insular area governments to implement projects directed at reducing emissions from the existing fleet of older diesel engines. This opportunity is part of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Program, a pilot program under President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative launched in 2021 to ensure that disadvantaged communities receive the benefits of investments in climate, clean water, and energy. The goal of the initiative is to deliver 40 percent of the benefits of such investments to communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is due to receive comments on two potential wind energy areas located off the coasts of Galveston, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana. The areas, which represent the first wind energy areas in the Gulf of Mexico region, cover more than 700,000 acres and have the potential to power more than three million homes. The two areas are part of the original 30-million acre Gulf of Mexico call area that the agency announced in October 2021. The agency also seeks comments on an environmental assessment spanning the entire call area to examine the potential impacts from site characterization and assessment activities that are anticipated following lease issuance. READ MORE