On December 16, 2024, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) requested public feedback to “help inform its work to implement” the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) and the Climate-Related Financial Risk...more
The western burrowing owl was just recently elevated to a “candidate species” under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). As a candidate species, the owl now...more
11/12/2024
/ California ,
California Endangered Species Act ,
California Fish and Game Commission ,
Comment Period ,
Conservation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species ,
Environmental Policies ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
Infrastructure ,
Listing Standards ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Urban Planning & Development
What Happened -
On Monday, October 14, 2024, the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecyle) opened a public comment period on changes to the previously proposed regulations implementing the...more
10/16/2024
/ California ,
Comment Period ,
Environmental Policies ,
Plastics ,
Pollution Control ,
Product Packaging ,
Public Comment ,
Recycling ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Waste Management
The march toward mandated corporate disclosures for climate-related risks continues. Despite significant pushback and substantial legal challenges, state legislatures and regulators are continuing to advance laws and rules...more
10/15/2024
/ California ,
CARB ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Legislation ,
Pollution Control ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized regulations impacting a large swath of refrigeration and cooling equipment industries. The new regulations are the most recent EPA action addressing the use of...more
10/4/2024
/ Air Pollution ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Regulations ,
Pollution Control ,
RCRA ,
Reclamation
A recent conference led by Connecticut Attorney General (AG) William Tong discussed the alleged problems and potential solutions associated with plastics use and waste. Conference attendees included nearly two dozen...more
10/1/2024
/ California ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Manufacturers ,
PFAS ,
Plastics ,
Pollution Control ,
Product Packaging ,
Public Health ,
State and Local Government ,
State Attorneys General ,
Toxic Chemicals
On March 11, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the long-awaited Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Rule (Final Rule), which concluded a nearly decadelong process — spanning three...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued its long-awaited climate reporting requirements, making it mandatory for the largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. to annually disclose both greenhouse gas...more
In the absence of comprehensive federal action, states and regulators are enacting legislation and issuing guidance requiring climate-related disclosures, stepping in to fill the void left by the U.S. Securities Exchange...more
1/30/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
NYDFS ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
PM NAAQS: Already behind schedule is perhaps the mostly widely impactful rule change EPA has proposed in many years: a lowering of the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). EPA has...more
1/9/2024
/ Air Pollution ,
Chevron Deference ,
Clean Energy ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
MATS ,
Methane ,
NAAQS ,
Ozone
On December 26, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published an Interim final rule updating its October final rule restricting the use of some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a key substance used in refrigeration...more
1/2/2024
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Comment Period ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Global Warming ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
HFC Emissions ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Manufacturers ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Reform
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed listing the northwestern pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) and the southwestern pond turtle (Actinemys pallida) as threatened species under the federal Endangered Species...more
11/30/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Conservation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
ESA Listings ,
Final Rules ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rulemaking Process ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two landmark bills into law on October 7, imposing stringent new requirements on large companies doing business in California to publicly report their annual greenhouse gas (GHG)...more
10/18/2023
/ California ,
CARB ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Legislation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On October 7, 2023, California Governor Newsom signed two landmark bills into law, Senate Bill (SB) 253 and SB-261, imposing new requirements on large companies doing business in California to publicly report their annual...more