Both the North and South Carolina legislatures have recently adopted statutes affecting environmental issues in their respective states. This update highlights the most significant developments in North and South Carolina....more
This article summarizes some of the most significant amendments to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that were enacted in 2023. Some housing laws that relate to CEQA are discussed in the article, “Recently...more
On March 31, Circular Action Alliance (“CAA”), the Producer Responsibility Organization (“PRO”) for California, Colorado, and the only contender for PRO in Oregon, submitted the first draft of its Program Plan (“the Plan”)...more
Powerful pumps that supply much of California’s population with water have killed several thousand threatened and endangered fish this year, prompting environmental groups to demand that state and federal agencies take...more
The Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Lincoln County Detention Center (“Center”) entered into a January 9th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged...more
The Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) circulated a reminder that states: The 2023 Biennial Report module in RCRAInfo is now open to start capturing data....more
Three individuals and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade and Inclusive Louisiana (collectively “LBB”) filed a December 12th Petition to Object (“Petition”) to a Clean Air Act Title V permit issued by the Louisiana Department of...more
The third major development of 2023 for defining "Waters of the United States" ("WOTUS") has arrived. First, in early 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the United States Army Corps of...more
Virginia developers take note: changes to the Virginia stormwater construction permitting program have been made over the last few years, and more changes are expected in upcoming months. While navigating those changes,...more
Three Requests for Hearing and Adjudicatory Review (“Requests”) were filed before the Arkansas Pollution Control & Ecology Commission (“APC&EC”) challenging a nonmunicipal domestic wastewater treatment facility discharge...more
The Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Delek Logistics Operating, LLC, (“Delek”) entered into a September 15th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published in the August 22nd Federal Register Notice a proposed rule that would approve portions of the revisions to the Arkansas State Implementation Plan (“SIP”)....more
As EPA continues to review potential regulations for PFAS contamination in drinking water, some state regulatory bodies have decided not to wait for the federal government to act. North Carolina is the latest state to...more
As the objectives gain traction, they are meeting state resistance in court. The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) strategic plan for 2022–26, released in March 2022, added a new foundational principle to the...more
Three Requests for Hearing and Adjudicatory Review (“Requests”) have been filed before the Arkansas Pollution Control & Ecology Commission (“APC&EC”) challenging a nonmunicipal domestic wastewater treatment facility discharge...more
Hiding in plain sight in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA)--which is intended to extend the nation’s debt limit into 2025 in order to avoid a federal default--are provisions that seek to amend the National...more
As previously noted in April 18th and April 19th blog posts, the Mayor of Tontitown and certain individuals filed separate (two) Requests for Adjudicatory Hearing and Commission Review (collectively, “Petitions”) before the...more
Siting and permitting renewable energy projects in Virginia have become increasingly challenging as federal and state environmental laws, regulations and guidance have evolved in recent years. In particular, HB 206...more
It appears the draft Arrangements Law for 2023-2024, recently published for public comments, includes several reforms with a direct negative impact on the government’s handling of environmental quality challenges. The draft...more
Last week, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected challenges to EPA’s “Revised Cross-State Air Pollution Update Rule”. The Court found that the Rule was “an appropriate exercise of EPA’s statutory authority”....more
As noted in a February 20th post several Requests for Hearings were filed before the Arkansas Pollution Control & Ecology Commission (“Commission”) addressing an application seeking to modify a permit for an open-cut mining...more
Environmental Justice (“EJ”) continued to prove a major focus of the Biden administration in 2022. With wide-ranging initiatives across several federal agencies, the administration worked to strengthen enforcement, release...more
In 1994, under Executive Order 12898, environmental justice was recognized as a federal initiative administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Since then, the environmental justice movement has expanded,...more
The Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality (“MCEQ”) and Producers Rice Mill, Inc. (“Producers”) entered into a July 6th Agreed Order (“AO”) addressing an alleged violation of an air permit. See Order No. 7201 22. ...more
Mike Rolband was appointed Director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in January 2022. Recently, Channing Martin, a partner in the Environment and Natural Resources Group at Williams Mullen, had the...more