Key Takeaways -
What Happened? On May 21, 2024, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed the Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act (the Act). Minnesota is the fifth state to enact laws implementing packaging EPR rules,...more
Canada is increasing accountability for environmental claims by explicitly requiring companies to substantiate claims promoting the environmental benefits of their products and business activities. Bill C-59 (which received...more
Key Takeaways -
What is Happening? The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) published for public comment its proposed 2025 Industrial Stormwater General Permit (ISGP), which authorizes the discharge of...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Policy, announced last week by David Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA),...more
Companies should take note – there is increased global scrutiny around environmental or green marketing, or so-called “greenwashing,” claims. These claims stem from alleged wrongdoing in companies’ marketing representations...more
Key Takeaways -
• What Is Happening? On March 14, 2024, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a final rule requiring certain facilities to develop Facility Response Plans (FRPs) for a potential worst-case...more
Oil spills commonly occur when least expected and, even in smaller quantities can significantly disrupt business operations and create risks for enforcement and/or litigation. It’s important that companies are prepared and...more
On February 8, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed two rules to expand the Agency’s authority to address releases of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other emerging contaminants at...more
Tomorrow, February 1, the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) will host a hybrid question and answer session to discuss the draft rulemaking on their extended producer responsibility (EPR)...more
Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 54 on June 30, 2022, creating an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program and imposing some related prohibitions for certain single-use packaging and plastic single-use food service ware...more
Facilities operating across the country need to be prepared for increased climate-driven enforcement at all levels of federal government—especially at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With EPA’s Climate...more
On September 15, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final rule governing water quality certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Section 401 requires the applicant for a...more
On July 13, 2023, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) published proposed amendments to Chapter 173-443 WAC, Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Key provisions of the Proposed Rule include...more
On July 13, 2023, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) published proposed amendments to Chapter 173-443 WAC, Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Key provisions of the Proposed Rule include...more
A new D.C. Circuit opinion addressed the limits of non-delegation doctrine, upheld the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate HFC/HFO blends, and struck down the agency’s authority to enact...more
On May 25, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Sackett v. EPA, No. 21-454, holding that Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction extends to wetlands only if they have a continuous surface connection to...more
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a group of New Jersey herring fishers’ challenge to a long-standing key administrative law doctrine—the “Chevron doctrine.” It could be the next term’s most consequential case. The Chevron...more
On April 19, 2023, EPA finalized Rule 25 – Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Listing of Substitutes under the Significant New Alternatives Policy Program in the Refrigeration & Air Conditioning and Fire Suppression Sectors....more
Agriculture is on the very frontlines of our changing climate. Climate change directly affects many of the most fundamental aspects of agricultural production: the length of crop growing seasons; the ranges of insects, weeds,...more
Green Marketing Updates in the European Union (EU) -
Background -
On March 22, 2023, the European Commission (Commission) published a Proposal for a Directive on Green Claims (Proposal). The Proposal is part of the EU's...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) formally implemented a nationwide Voluntary Self-Disclosure policy (VSD policy) on February 22, 2023—effective immediately—that has been in the works for several years. The VSD policy...more
On February 21, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit) issued the latest in a series of opinions involving the Trump Administration’s rule interpreting Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA)....more
What's Happening?
The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) published proposed regulations to amend the Recycling and Disposal Reporting System (RDRS) to increase the specificity of waste...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently introduced the first significant revisions since 2017 to policies affecting all corporate matters handled by the DOJ’s Criminal Division. These policies aim to incentivize companies to...more
On December 15, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule restricting the use of certain hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in aerosols, foams, refrigeration, air conditioning, and heat pump...more