A Biden-era US Department of Labor (DOL) Rule permitting consideration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors when choosing investments as a “tiebreaker” was recently upheld by Texas federal Judge Matthew...more
The Trump Administration is beginning to roll out its policy plans to “dominate” the global energy space. These plans tackle energy transition issues in a dramatically different manner than did the Biden Administration,...more
In the environmental space, 2024 has been a memorable year with regulatory efforts and court decisions touching on every aspect of environmental and energy regulation, capped out by a closely divided election....more
12/24/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Citizen Suits ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Coal Industry ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
PFAS ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
TransUnion LLC v Ramirez
A recent US Supreme Court decision, which grabbed headlines because it involved an abortion-related drug, with potential repercussions in litigation far-removed from health care due to the decision hinging on “standing,”...more
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a suite of final rules aimed at reducing contamination, emissions, and discharges from coal- and gas-fired power plants on April 25.
This suite of rules includes two...more
4/26/2024
/ Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Coal-Fired Plants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Final Rules ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Landfills ,
Power Plants ,
Wastewater
No industrial company wants to find itself on the morning news tied to a chemical spill or train derailment. Events like those can transform even the most highly regarded company into a movie villain and give rise to...more
What will happen in the environmental and energy space in 2023? The last year saw transformative changes in the environmental and energy space in the form of historic spending through the federal Inflation Reduction Act, a...more
12/15/2022
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
NGOs ,
PFAS ,
Popular ,
Sackett ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The first Monday of October means the Supreme Court begins to hear cases for the new term. As we promised at the end of last term, below we summarize cases the Court could address, including issues involving the federal Clean...more
10/3/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Anti-Commandeering ,
Biden v Missouri ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Clean Water Act ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Rapanos v US ,
Sackett ,
SCOTUS ,
Spending Clause ,
Tenth Amendment ,
Texas v US ,
Waters of the United States
Standing is a major issue in nearly all environmental citizen suit cases. A split panel of the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court’s award of a $14.25 million Clean Air Act (CAA) penalty against a...more
9/12/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Exxon Mobil ,
NGOs ,
Penalties ,
Pollution Control ,
SCOTUS ,
Settlement ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing
On May 5, 2022, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its new environmental justice (EJ) strategy, which has been a priority to the Biden Administration.
While the strategy is comprehensive and involves many federal...more
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published a draft white paper discussing control techniques and other measures that could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from combustion turbines and, by extension, from...more
The US Department of Transportation (DOT) implemented the Biden Administration’s newest vehicle-related environmental law intended to curb not only greenhouse gas emissions but also the United States’ reliance on imported oil...more
On March 9, 2022, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rescinded a rule promulgated by the Trump Administration and revived California’s Clean Air Act waiver, allowing the state to set its own greenhouse gas emissions...more