The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers announced yesterday that the implementation of President Trump’s executive order directing EPA and the Corps to replace the Clean Water Rule will be a two-step...more
On June 7, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum prohibiting the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from directing any settlement payments to third-party, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that were not...more
A recent Fourth Circuit decision will have wastewater dischargers taking a closer look at their NPDES permits and state water quality standards. The court of appeals held, in Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. Fola Coal...more
On July 29, President Obama signed into law a bill establishing first-ever federal requirements for the labeling of food containing genetically engineered ingredients. The bill, known as S.764, directs the U.S. Department of...more
In what is the latest in a line of Congressional proposals to beef up the federal government’s authority to regulate cosmetics, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), has proposed a bill aimed at dramatically increasing Food and...more
Underscoring the requirement that class action plaintiffs clearly and objectively define the putative class without reference to the underlying merits of plaintiffs’ claims, a federal district court in Pennsylvania struck...more
A federal district court in Pennsylvania cautioned against premature Lone Pine motions in a ruling that may be instructive for future lawsuits involving oil and gas exploration and production operations....more
Potentially making it more difficult for plaintiffs to prevail on trespass claims in Texas, the Supreme Court of Texas held for the first time that a plaintiff bears the burden of proving the lack of consent in a suit for...more
China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) has proposed “Measures for Public Participation in Environmental Protection (Trial)” (Measures), which lay out a variety of mechanisms for public participation in...more