On February 8, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published two proposed rules that would expand its regulatory authority over PFAS: one to list nine PFAS as hazardous constituents subject to the Resource...more
On August 29, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) released the text of a rule further revising the definition of “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) that the...more
9/7/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Construction Project ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Inland Waterways ,
Land Developers ,
Rapanos v US ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
On November 28, 2022, the Council of the European Union (“EU”) approved the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”), following adoption of the CSRD by the EU Parliament on November 10, 2022 — a major move toward...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Army Corps”) delivered on their commitment to issue a new rule defining “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) by the end of 2022, releasing a...more
1/11/2023
/ Clean Water Act ,
Construction Project ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Federal Register ,
Joe Biden ,
New Rules ,
Preemptive Challenges ,
Rapanos v US ,
Sackett ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a long-anticipated proposal to designate two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund law known as the Comprehensive...more
The Net Zero Banking Alliance (“NZBA” or the “Alliance”) is a recent private sector collaboration convened with United Nations support. The Alliance was created in April of 2021 with the intention of supporting its members’...more
For the second time in as many weeks, the acting head of the EPA’s enforcement office has issued a memorandum (the “Memorandum”) outlining additional actions to advance the EPA’s environmental justice (“EJ”) goals...more
While news stories and campaign rhetoric can frequently create expectations of immediate shifts after a change in administration, most changes happen slowly in the federal government, and constraints on resources means that...more
1/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CERCLA ,
Chemicals ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
PFAS ,
PHMSA ,
Risk Management ,
Trump Administration ,
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) ,
Wastewater
While the texts of environmental laws do not change without an act of Congress, executive branch agencies that enforce those laws have a great deal of discretion in what kinds of violations to prioritize for investigation and...more
1/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Natural Resources ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Methane ,
OECA ,
OIRA ,
Performance Standards ,
Renewable Energy ,
Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Policy
On August 3, 2020, the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (“PCAF”) released a draft standard outlining a proposed approach for global carbon accounting. This standard, the “Global Carbon Accounting Standard for the...more
The Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD” or the “Task Force”) was established by the G-20 Financial Stability Board in 2015 to encourage the disclosure of consistent climate-related financial...more
In 2018, the 2° Investing Initiative (“2DII”) — an international, non-profit think tank working to align financial markets and regulations with the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global temperature rise this century well...more
The European Union Taxonomy Regulation (the “Taxonomy”) entered into force on July 12, 2020, as part of the European Commission’s (the “Commission”) broader action plan on sustainable finance initiated in March 2018...more
In June 2018, the International Maritime Organization (“IMO”) announced the adoption of an initial strategy to reduce total greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions attributable to the international shipping sector by at least 50% by...more
On April 23, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court (“Supreme Court”) decided County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund et al., holding in a 6-3 opinion that a discharge permit is required under the Federal Water Pollution Control...more
On April 20, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Atlantic Richfield Company v. Christian,1 a case addressing the interplay between the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority under the Comprehensive...more
On April 10, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Office of Land and Emergency Management released “Interim Guidance on Site Field Work Decisions Due to Impacts of COVID-19” (“Guidance”). This memorandum provides...more