The Biden-Harris Administration recently issued a suite of new rules aimed at addressing water and air quality, reducing methane emissions, protecting environmental justice communities, and accelerating the nation’s...more
6/12/2024
/ Air Pollution ,
Air Quality Standards ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Coal Ash ,
Department of the Interior ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
MATS ,
Methane ,
New Rules ,
Offshore Wind ,
Power Plants ,
RCRA ,
Renewable Energy ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Wastewater ,
Water Quality
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent rulemakings for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have far-reaching implications for a broad range of industries, regulated entities, and regulatory bodies. First,...more
5/2/2024
/ CERCLA ,
Contamination ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Substances ,
PFAS ,
Popular ,
Public Health ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Water Quality
On May 25, 2023, the United States Supreme Court held that the term “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”)—as used in the federal Clean Water Act (“CWA”), 33 U.S.C. § 1362(7)—means “streams, oceans, rivers, and lakes” and...more
6/8/2023
/ Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sackett ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
Significant Nexus Test ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
Recent actions by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aim to institutionalize environmental justice as a key agency function and support development of tools, guidance and policies to advance it. A newly formed...more
Future federal environmental settlements are likely to include more creative remedies to address the impacts of violations on communities, thanks to recent policy changes at the US Department of Justice (DOJ)....more
7/25/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Environmental Violations ,
New Rules ,
Regulatory History ,
Settlement ,
Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Policy
In one of the most significant environmental opinions of our time, the Supreme Court held in West Virginia v. EPA that Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authority to...more
7/11/2022
/ Clean Air Act ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Power Plants ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory History ,
SCOTUS ,
West Virginia v EPA
On May 26, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow the Biden administration to continue using the social cost of carbon estimates in its regulatory analyses, developed pursuant to an executive order from President Joe Biden....more
6/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
NHTSA ,
Obama Administration ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Trump Administration
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan recently announced a series of significant actions to advance environmental justice. The U.S. Department of Justice...more
5/12/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Public Comment ,
Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Policy ,
Tribal Lands
The Biden Administration’s “whole of government” approach to advancing environmental justice (EJ) continues apace, with agencies and courts pursuing focused enforcement and environmental review strategies that could affect...more
9/20/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CalEPA ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FERC ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
NEPA ,
US Army Corps of Engineers
In its first six months, the Biden Administration has taken tangible steps to advance environmental justice (EJ) across the federal government. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have...more
In an extended Earth Day event, President Biden hosted the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate (“Summit”) on April 22 and 23, seeking to unite nations around the world in the goal of reducing global greenhouse gas (“GHG”)...more
4/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Brazil ,
Canada ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FSOC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Japan ,
Proposed Legislation ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK
As part of his comprehensive climate change agenda, President Biden convened a task force to assess the social cost of greenhouse gases. At the end of February, the task force published an interim report estimating the “cost”...more
3/24/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Carbon Taxes ,
Climate Change ,
Cost-Benefit Analysis ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Obama Administration ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration
On March 4, 2021, the US Supreme Court held that draft biological opinions prepared by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) were subject to the deliberative process privilege...more
3/15/2021
/ Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FOIA ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Privileged Communication ,
Privileged Documents ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Agencies ,
Public Records ,
SCOTUS ,
Sierra Club ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service v Sierra Club
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published draft guidance on how to apply the “functional equivalent” test created by the Supreme Court in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 140 S. Ct. 1462 (2020). The...more
12/17/2020
/ Clean Water Act ,
Direct Discharge ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Draft Guidance ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Functional Equivalent ,
Groundwater ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
Navigable Waters ,
Point Sources ,
SCOTUS
Over the weekend, major news outlets announced that former Vice President Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States. Biden and his running mate, Vice Predident-elect Kamala Harris, pledged throughout the...more
11/10/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Land Management ,
Clean Energy ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Deregulation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Green Infrastructure ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Methane ,
Paris Agreement ,
Presidential Elections ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Sustainable Projects ,
Trump Administration
Now that the results of a tumultuous presidential election appear clear, attention shifts to what to expect during President-elect Joe Biden’s first term. It is fair to say that a Biden White House will sharply contrast with...more
11/10/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Clean Water Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
SAFE ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
Adding to the many regulatory initiatives undertaken to aid the nation’s COVID-19 response and provide enforcement relief to the regulated community, on April 10, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a number of rapid-fire legislative, executive, and regulatory responses in the U.S. States, counties, and cities have issued shelter-in-place and other emergency orders, causing certain...more