A Virginia Circuit Court nullified the Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board’s repeal of a regulation that implemented Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a regional cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector. A 2020 law required Virginia to participate in a market-based trading program consistent with RGGI and directed the Department of Environmental Quality to incorporate the 2020 law’s provisions into a regulation to bring Virginia into RGGI. The court found that an association of weatherization professionals had standing to challenge the repeal because the association’s members would be injured by being deprived of funding through a Weatherization Deferral Repair program funded by RGGI revenues, an injury that was fairly traceable to the repeal and redressable by the court. On the merits, the court ruled that neither the 2020 law nor any other law gave the respondents authority to repeal the regulation.

Challenge to Virginia regulation withdrawing the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Association of Energy Conservation Professionals v. Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board

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Virginia Trial Court Said State Respondents Lacked Authority to Repeal RGGI Regulation

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Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

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The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

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Tradable permits are market-based tools that grant permission for specific activities, frequently used to regulate emissions. These permits can be issued within a trading system to manage environmental impacts.

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Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

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Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Virginia Trial Court Said State Respondents Lacked Authority to Repeal RGGI Regulation

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance