Like everything else today, the definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA) ebbs and flows depending on which political party holds office. However, while the Biden Administration gets...more
10/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Bodily Injury ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Defense Strategies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Groundwater ,
Information Reports ,
Obama Administration ,
Property Damage ,
Public Comment ,
SNUR ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
Can you still build a bulkhead along the shoreline in coastal Virginia to protect your property? Well, it depends, but now the answer is more likely to be “no.” Major changes to how Virginia tidal waterfront property owners...more
7/23/2021
/ Air Pollution ,
Air Quality Standards ,
Biden Administration ,
Boiler MACT Rule ,
Climate Change ,
Coastal Real Estate ,
Comment Period ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Funding ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Permits ,
Property Owners ,
Rising Sea Levels ,
Sea Levels ,
Trump Administration ,
Wetlands
Two recent executive orders (“EOs”) issued by President Trump require additional efforts by federal agencies to facilitate regulatory reform and to expedite infrastructure projects, relying greatly on emergency and special...more
7/16/2020
/ CARES Act ,
CERCLA ,
Clean Water Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Economic Downturn ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Funding ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Infrastructure ,
Investment ,
NESHAP ,
Public Projects ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Relief Measures ,
Trump Administration
EPA recently issued a final rule containing much-debated revisions to the Clean Air Act 112(r) Risk Management Program (“RMP”). The rule rescinds or modifies a substantial number of existing requirements, including...more
1/14/2020
/ Amended Regulation ,
Clean Air Act ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Final Rules ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Obama Administration ,
Regulatory History ,
Rescission ,
Risk Management ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration
It’s well-known that the Trump administration has sought policies of deregulation over the past several years. The administration places emphasis on proper enforcement of existing rules and regulations as a means of achieving...more
1/13/2020
/ Administrative Procedure ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CERCLA ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Environmental Quality ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Gas Prices ,
Obama Administration ,
PFAS ,
Renewable Energy ,
Risk Management ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waste Treatment Facilities ,
Wastewater ,
Waters of the United States
A prominent characteristic of the Obama EPA was its close relationship with national environmental groups. The most controversial EPA rulemakings seemed to be the by-product of litigation settlements when environmental groups...more
A prominent characteristic of the Obama EPA was its close relationship with national environmental groups. The most controversial EPA rulemakings seemed to be the by-product of litigation settlements when environmental...more
On June 1, 2017, President Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement (“Paris Agreement”). The Paris Agreement was signed by 195 countries in December of 2015. The goal of the...more
7/10/2017
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Air Act ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Landfills ,
Methane ,
Paris Agreement ,
Pesticides ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Superfund ,
Trump Administration
The Clean Power Plan (“CPP”), and its companion new source review rule, is the Obama Administration’s signature regulation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Among other things, it requires states to put...more
5/17/2017
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Waste ,
NRDC ,
Presidential Memorandum ,
Trump Administration ,
Two For One Rule
As we reported in the April issue of Environmental Notes, the Trump administration issued a final rule on March 16, 2017 that delayed the effective date of regulations making significant changes to requirements applicable to...more
President Trump has wasted no time in acting on his environmental agenda. On January 24, his second working day in office, the President signed two Executive Orders giving the green light to construction of the Keystone and...more