Maryland has long been a solar-friendly state, and the Brighter Tomorrow Act, signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore last month, will expand access and adoption of solar energy. The legislation is both a supportive and...more
6/4/2024
/ Battery ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Economic Development ,
Electricity ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
New Legislation ,
Public Service Commissions ,
Renewable Energy ,
Solar Energy ,
Sustainability ,
Tax Credits
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser signed two significant pieces of legislation recently to build on the success of the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018 and to further help transition the District to a new energy...more
Our earlier blog post, “Companies Should Know Benefits and Risks of ESG Reporting,” provided an overview of the Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) metrics, why these metrics are important to companies and...more
7/25/2022
/ Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Mutual Funds ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
West Virginia v EPA
In a significant regulatory change that will impact real property transactions and loan financings, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) joins a handful of states that requires the reporting of historical...more
It is standard practice today for real property purchasers to conduct an Environmental Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (“Phase I ESA”) or otherwise satisfy the All Appropriate Inquiries (“AAI”) requirement “in...more
For the first time in more than 30 years, Maryland’s wetland regulations will undergo a review and update, for which the Maryland Board of Public Works’ Wetlands Administration (“BPW”) is soliciting comments on or before...more
On July 11, 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) finalized its policy (the “Policy”) to defer environmental investigations and enforcement actions to authorized state agencies as the “primary implementer.”...more
8/13/2019
/ Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Violations ,
Government Investigations ,
Jurisdiction ,
RCRA ,
State and Local Government
Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPRM”), entitled “Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Costs and Benefits in the Rulemaking...more
Despite last minute veto threats from the White House, the bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 was signed into law earlier this year. Buried deep in this massive omnibus spending bill is a major win for...more
6/18/2018
/ Appropriations Bill ,
Brownfield Properties ,
CERCLA ,
Commercial Property Owners ,
Contaminated Properties ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Site Assessment ,
Real Estate Development ,
Redevelopment ,
Superfund
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator Scott Pruitt has made it clear that one of his top priorities during his tenure is to expedite cleanups at contaminated sites across the country. To achieve this goal...more
Climate change related cases are on the rise nationwide, just like sea water levels. In fact, according to a United Nations study released in May 2017, the U.S. has three times more climate change litigation cases than the...more
9/20/2017
/ Clean Power Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Hazardous Waste ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
NPDES ,
Oil & Gas ,
Public Trust Doctrine ,
Rising Sea Levels ,
Safety Violations ,
Sea Levels ,
Shell Oil ,
Toxic Chemicals
Over the last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stayed two high-profile litigations concerning the regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing coal-fired power plants. By...more
While the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) Superfund program under the Comprehensive Environmental Response and Liability Act or “CERCLA” has often been dubbed the “Comprehensive Employment and Retirement Lawyers...more
When Scott Pruitt took over the post as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), he made it clear that one of his top priorities was to expedite cleanups at contaminated sites across the...more
There has been much discussion lately regarding the new Administration’s efforts to review and possibly “roll-back” several environmental and energy-related regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the...more
On March 16, the White House released its proposed fiscal year 2018 budget outline entitled “A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again.” Fully realizing one of the President’s priorities—to ease the burden of Federal...more
By August 2017, the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) reports that it will begin to enforce recently promulgated Mold Assessment and Remediation Licensure Regulations (Regulations) for the...more
As the Obama era comes to a close, on Christmas eve the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued its final report on "Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas: Impacts from the Hydraulic Fracturing Water Cycle on...more
As a result of the D.C. Court of Appeals' (COA) ruling on September 26, 2016 invalidating a Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Memorandum, one of the U.S. Environmental Protection...more
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will be accepting grant applications from eligible applicants through June 28, 2016, for HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants program, which supports the...more
The Council of Development Finance Agencies (“CDFA”), a national association dedicated to the advancement of development finance concerns and interests, announced the creation of the Brownfields Project Marketplace...more
In an unprecedented action, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is investigating the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), one of its state counterparts, for alleged civil rights violations under Title...more
3/22/2016
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Department of Environmental Management ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Funding ,
Government Investigations ,
Landfills ,
OCR ,
State Agencies ,
Title VI
In a potential blow to EPA and President Barack Obama’s legacy on climate change (that was softened with Supreme Court Justice’s passing on February 13, 2015) the U.S. Supreme Court --in an unprecedented and extraordinary...more
As expected and last reported in our June 2015 blog, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on December 9, 2015, launched eDisclosure — EPA’s updated, electronic voluntary audit and disclosure reporting system. Under...more
A recent study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (“Berkeley”) reports that the solar energy generation system will continue to grow over the next few years with “significant expansion . . . both in terms of volume...more