LSU Law Center: Climate Change Law and Policy Project – Page 2 – Climate change poses a grave threat to humankind and the environment. The Climate Change Law and Policy Project focuses on both the global effects of climate change and the unique risks faced by Southern Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta.

40 CFR Part 60 [EPA–HQ–OAR–2023–0072; FRL–8536–01– OAR] RIN 2060–AV09: New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; and Repeal of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule.

This rule was promulgated by the EPA on 9 May 2024 to avoid the 22 May 2024 Congressional Review Act trigger which would have allowed the rule to be repealed by the next Congress on a procedural fasttrack. It sets GHG standards for new and certain existing fossil fuel electric generating units. The rule is under attack by red state attorneys general and by fossil fuel companies. The primary attack is that the Clean Air Act does not give the EPA the authority to require CSS to control GHGs from electric generating units. Petitioners argue that CSS is not a proven, available, cost-effective technology as required by the CAA. (Petitioners’ brief). EPA argues that it will be by the deadline for electric generating units to implement CSS. The case is before the DC Circuit, which has declined to enjoin the rule. The petitioners are currently seeking an injunction from the Supreme Court through its shadow docket process.

FEMA has proposed a major revision of the NFIP, including increasing the subsidy for low and middle-income insureds. This poses a wicked problem – without the increased subsidy, these insured will either have to go bare or move. With the subsidy, they will be encouraged to stay and if they move, someone else can move in without bearing the cost of the risk. This will further increase the incentive to move into high-risk areas, which will likely have depressed pricing. (Except for beach and riverfront properties, which tend to sell at a premium regardless of flood risk.)

https://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance/rules-legislation/congressional-reauthorization/legislative-proposals

Full legislative proposal (pdf)

In the Legislative Package Reform, the letter to Congressional leaders included the following four principles to outline the Administration’s priorities for multi-year NFIP reauthorization:

Ensuring more Americans are covered by flood insurance by making insurance more affordable to low-and-moderate income policyholders.
Building climate resilience by transforming the communication of risk and providing Americans with tools to manage their flood risk.
Reducing risk, losses, and disaster suffering by strengthening local floodplain management minimum standards and addressing extreme repetitive loss properties.
Instituting a sound and transparent financial framework that allows the NFIP to balance affordability and fiscal soundness.