[Webinar] Growing Greener: Navigating Environmental Laws in the Cannabis Industry
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
Four years ago, President Biden ran on an ambitious climate action agenda and the Biden/Harris Administration, from the first day in office, has a laser focus on tackling the “climate crisis,” On January 27, 2021, the...more
Though environmental justice (EJ) has been a cornerstone of the Biden Administration, it lacks federal enforcement laws. Executive orders and responses from federal agencies have shaped U.S. enforcement of EJ issues....more
President Biden is pushing in 2023 to strengthen Environmental Justice (EJ) initiatives and policies from the top down. This includes ordering more action and results from relevant federal agencies and pushing for the use of...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published in the January 12th Federal Register a Request for Public Comment on the National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives (“NECIs”) it is proposing for fiscal...more
The annual results of the agency’s enforcement and compliance efforts repeatedly discussed Environmental Justice (EJ), touting general trends and specific enforcement actions related to potential communities of concern. The...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) oversees policy and guidance for the EPA’s hazard response and waste programs. In October 2022, OLEM released its Environmental Justice...more
As we move toward two full years of the Biden Administration, we can see the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) environmental justice (EJ) efforts move from the creation of new offices and guidance materials toward...more
On Sept. 30, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) finalized its Environmental Justice (EJ) Action Plan (EJAP). The EJAP directs federal agencies to promote and work...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a document titled: EJ Action Plan – Building Up Environmental Justice in EPA’s Land protection and Cleanup Programs (September 22) (“Action Plan”)...more
Earlier this quarter, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an updated legal “toolbox” to further the Administration’s goal of achieving environmental justice (EJ) in historical “EJ Communities.” The White House...more
The public’s attention to environmental justice has refocused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on cumulative assessment of risk and impacts. Concordantly, EPA recently finalized its Fiscal Year 2022–2026...more
On March 22, 2022, U.S. EPA released a new web tool designed to ensure that information regarding environmental violations and enforcement actions is more readily available to the public. The new tool, called ECHO Notify,...more
On January 5, 2022, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its Draft Environmental Justice Action Plan (Draft EJ Action Plan), which identifies Environmental Justice (EJ) measures that have been or...more
Emphasis on Environmental Justice and Climate Change - The EPA's draft Strategic Plan provides the key to understanding the agency's priority goals and initiatives, including Climate Change and Environmental Justice...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
Recent guidance issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) evidences EPA’s intention to better incorporate Environmental Justice (“EJ”) considerations into program administration and enforcement. ...more
On July 1, 2021, EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) issued a memorandum to all EPA Regional Offices urging the offices to increase cleanup program enforcement under the Comprehensive Environmental...more
For the second time in as many weeks, the acting head of the EPA’s enforcement office has issued a memorandum (the “Memorandum”) outlining additional actions to advance the EPA’s environmental justice (“EJ”) goals...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (“USEPA”) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (“OECA”) released July 1, 2021 guidance establishing a process on which it will rely upon to advance its’ Environment Justice...more
The Biden Administration has made environmental justice and equity a key pillar of its environmental policy, directing EPA to incorporate this concept at all levels of its decision-making process. EPA’s Administrator Michael...more
Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s inauguration on January 20, 2021 as the forty-sixth President of the United States could usher in a sweeping period of environmental regulatory changes vastly eclipsing those of his immediate predecessor...more