On June 11, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") announced a proposed rule to repeal key amendments to the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards ("MATS") for coal- and oil-fired electric utility steam...more
6/23/2025
/ Air Pollution ,
Clean Air Act ,
Coal Industry ,
Comment Period ,
Deregulation ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Infrastructure ,
MATS ,
Mercury ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Oil & Gas ,
Power Plants ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Trump Administration ,
Utilities Sector
On June 11, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") issued a proposed rule to repeal all greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions standards for fossil fuel-fired electric generating units ("EGUs") under § 111 of the...more
6/20/2025
/ Clean Air Act ,
Comment Period ,
Deregulation ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Power Plants ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements
Trump Paves Way for Coal Renaissance and Targets State Climate Change Efforts -
In early April, President Trump issued several presidential actions to revive the coal industry, including rolling back environmental...more
6/19/2025
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Deregulation ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
Zero-Emission Vehicles
The National Environmental Protection Act ("NEPA") requires that federal agencies assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making final decisions, including decisions on issuing federal permits,...more
6/17/2025
/ CEQ ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Review ,
Executive Orders ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Government Agencies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
NEPA ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Reform ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration
President Trump issued Executive Order ("EO") 14270 to reform the regulatory framework governing energy production through sunset provisions on all existing and future energy regulation....more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") announced it would reconsider the 2024 Risk Management Program ("RMP") rule....more
4/1/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Deregulation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Infrastructure ,
National Security ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") announced an agenda to revisit numerous regulations addressing the emission of greenhouse gases ("GHGs")....more
On March 12, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") issued a flurry of press releases announcing its plan to rollback dozens of Biden-era, as well as earlier, environmental regulations. This historic move is part...more
The Biden administration's rule requiring the payment of a fee for methane emissions has effectively been rescinded, although, for now at least, the statutory provision imposing the fee remains in effect along with other...more
3/18/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Deregulation ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Joint Resolutions ,
Methane ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
On March 4, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in City & County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency and clarified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA") and state...more
3/13/2025
/ California ,
City and County of San Francisco v Environmental Protection Agency ,
Clean Water Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NPDES ,
Permits ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Reform ,
San Francisco ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation
On December 26, 2024, New York enacted a law requiring certain energy companies to contribute cumulatively $75 billion to a climate "superfund" over the next 25 years....more
1/10/2025
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Reform ,
State and Local Government ,
Superfund
On April 19, 2024, EPA announced its highly anticipated final rule designating two polyfluoroalkyl substances ("PFAS")—perfluorooctanoic acid ("PFOA") and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid ("PFOS")—as "hazardous substances" under...more
4/22/2024
/ CERCLA ,
Contamination ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Final Rules ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Substances ,
PFAS ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Superfund ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
The Situation: In 2019, Congress amended the Toxic Substances Control Act ("TSCA") to require the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") to promulgate a reporting rule on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ("PFAS"). EPA...more
12/12/2023
/ Contamination ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Importers ,
Manufacturers ,
PFAS ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retroactive Application ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
The Situation: The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") finalized regulations designed to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by 80% in coming years at both new and existing facilities. The regulations...more
12/12/2023
/ Clean Air Act ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Methane ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Reform
The Situation: The Inflation Reduction Act ("IRA") requires the U.S Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") to finalize new greenhouse gas reporting rules for the petroleum and natural gas industry based on "empirical...more
In Short -
The Situation: The California legislature passed landmark climate bills that surpass emissions disclosure requirements of any other existing state law. The bills are branded as the nation's first comprehensive...more
9/28/2023
/ California ,
CARB ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Doing Business ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has announced a new proposed rule that would strengthen the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants ("NESHAP") for Coal- and Oil- Fired Electric Utility Steam...more
4/10/2023
/ Air Pollution ,
Clean Air Act ,
Coal-Fired Generation ,
Coal-Fired Plants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Infrastructure ,
MATS ,
Mercury ,
NESHAP ,
Oil & Gas ,
Power Plants ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Toxic Exposure
After years of attempts with varying success to regulate methane emissions from new oil and gas wells, the Biden administration has shifted strategy in proposing a regulatory program covering both new and existing oil and...more
11/22/2021
/ Air Pollution ,
Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Land Management ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Methane ,
New Regulations ,
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform
The Biden administration's Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad ("Executive Order") expands upon the Department of the Interior's Secretarial Order No. 3395 and indefinitely suspends the federal...more
2/3/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Department of the Interior ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Mineral Leasing Act ,
Moratorium ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ,
Regulatory Reform