The US Supreme Court’s opinion in the Loper Bright v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Commerce cases overruling the rule of deference to agency interpretations of federal statutes established by its decision 40 years ago in...more
7/5/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Authority ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Relentless Inc v US Department of Commerce ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation
At a time marked by themes of “push” and “pull,” organizations across all sectors and jurisdictions are grappling with the pursuit of innovation within an increasingly complex regulatory framework. Over the next 12 months,...more
One of the primary goals of bankruptcy law is to provide debtors with a fresh start by imposing an automatic stay and allowing for claims of reorganizing debtors to be discharged. In environmental law, a primary goal is to...more
US President Joseph Biden recently issued an executive order (EO) announcing additional environmental justice (EJ) initiatives. Most notably, the EO directs all agencies to take affirmative steps to identify and address EJ...more
Recent action by the Biden administration has made clear once more that advancing equity, environmental justice, and civil rights is a key component of the environmental agenda that it seeks to address through a “whole of...more
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on November 2 the final version of its fifth Contaminant Candidate List (CCL 5) that significantly expands the draft CCL’s definition of per- and polyfluoroalkyl...more
The US Supreme Court’s recent invalidation of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan under the “major questions” doctrine could make it more difficult for the Environmental Protection Agency to craft a similar regulation in the...more
The Biden-Harris administration recently affirmed its commitment to advancing environmental justice, issuing a sweeping guidance document on May 26, 2022. At first glance, the guidance from the US Environmental Protection...more
The global impact of our planet’s changing climate garnered significant attention in 2021. The United States rejoined the Paris Agreement at the beginning of the year, and in November, during the United Nations Climate Change...more
The updated model of the remedial design/remedial action consent decree and statement of work seeks to streamline and quicken CERCLA settlement negotiations and address environmental justice concerns of Superfund sites in...more
In a move that is expected to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers announced their intent to revise the definition of “waters of the United States”—a...more
6/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Tribal Lands ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
Reversing the US Court of Appeals for DC Circuit, a unanimous US Supreme Court held that Guam’s settlement of Clean Water Act liabilities did not give rise to and trigger the statute of limitations to bring a Comprehensive...more
6/1/2021
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Water Act ,
Clean-Up Costs ,
Consent Decrees ,
Contribution Claims ,
Cost Recovery ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Remediation Costs ,
Guam ,
Guam v United States ,
Hazardous Waste ,
SCOTUS ,
Statute of Limitations ,
U.S. Navy
US President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have consistently framed their policies with what they call the four major “crises” facing the nation: COVID-19, the economy, climate, and inequity. ...more
4/30/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Reform ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Relief Measures ,
Renewable Energy ,
Tax Reform
The Biden-Harris administration has set its sights on an ambitious environmental policy agenda, focusing on climate change and environmental justice as key initiatives, and intends to implement its agenda through an “all of...more
4/23/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Agriculture ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of the Interior ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Infrastructure ,
Regulatory Agenda
Much of the attention in President Joseph Biden’s executive actions in his first 100 days has been focused on his numerous executive orders on topics ranging from climate and COVID-19 to race and gender. Although these...more
President Joe Biden issued a series of executive orders on January 27 to further confront the “existential threat” of climate change, to reaffirm the executive branch’s commitment to evidence-based policymaking and...more
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit held that EPA’s interpretation that emissions controls under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act must be limited to those that can be applied “at” and “to” a stationary source was...more
As the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden took significant steps on his first day in office to advance the energy and climate initiatives of his administration. This LawFlash provides a brief summary of several...more
1/22/2021
/ Arctic Drilling ,
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ,
Biden Administration ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Reform ,
Fuel Efficiency ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Native American Issues ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Tribal Lands
Immediately following his inauguration on January 20, US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. began taking executive action to enact many of his administration’s initial priorities, which included a number of executive orders,...more
1/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DACA ,
Eviction ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreclosure ,
Infectious Diseases ,
LGBTQ ,
Masks ,
Moratorium ,
Muslims ,
Paris Agreement ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Regulatory Mandates ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Travel Ban ,
Workplace Safety
Draft guidance from the US Environmental Protection Agency provides a clearer look at how the agency intends to apply the US Supreme Court's "functional equivalent" analysis to determine when National Pollutant Discharge...more
12/15/2020
/ Appeals ,
Clean Water Act ,
Direct Discharge ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Functional Equivalent ,
Groundwater ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
Navigable Waters ,
NPDES ,
Permits ,
Point Sources ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
Waters of the United States
Deferring to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit rejected a challenge to the first-ever listing of a site on the Superfund National Priorities List under recent regulatory...more
Multiple environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Conservation Law Foundation, and Defenders of Wildlife, have sued the US Environmental Protection Agency and US Army Corps of Engineers over...more
In rejecting guidance from the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Supreme Court concluded that a discharge to groundwater that reaches navigable waters is subject to the permitting requirements of the Clean Water Act if...more
4/27/2020
/ Appeals ,
Clean Water Act ,
Direct Discharge ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Functional Equivalent ,
Groundwater ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
Navigable Waters ,
NPDES ,
Permits ,
Point Sources ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
Waters of the United States
The US Supreme Court held that CERCLA does not preempt state law restoration claims by landowners who are potentially responsible parties, but clarifies that the Environmental Protection Agency must approve landowners’...more
The US Supreme Court declined to review an appeals court decision holding that the one-year clock for states to issue a certification under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act for a federal permit does not reset if...more