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Carbon Sequestration in Texas: EPA Region 6 Issues Draft Permits for Proposed Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide in Texas

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 recently issued the first draft Class VI permits in Texas under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Underground Injection Control (UIC) program. These draft permits would...more

California to Require Climate Disclosures from Large Companies (Updated)

Update: In August 2024, the California Legislature passed SB 219. This bill makes minor but important amendments to SB 253 and SB 261. Notably, SB 219 provides CARB with additional flexibility on the timing of Scope 3...more

Implications of Recent Supreme Court Decisions on Administrative, Environmental and Natural Resources Law

The final days of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 term saw the release of several decisions that may – or may not, depending on one’s perspective and desired strategy – hold significant implications for administrative law...more

Has the major questions doctrine had a major impact?

Since its formal announcement as a constitutional “doctrine” in West Virginia v. EPA, administrative and environmental law practitioners have speculated that the major questions doctrine (MQD) would mark a major shift in how...more

Changing Climate for Corporate Disclosures: SEC Mandates Climate Disclosures for Public Companies

On March 6, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted (3-2) to adopt final rules entitled, The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors (the “Final Climate Rules”). The Final...more

FWS Issues Streamlined General Permits for Incidental Take of Eagles

On February 12, 2024, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a final rule that created several long-awaited general permits under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act) to authorize...more

EPA Proposes Oil and Gas Sector Methane Fee

Key Takeaways - • What Is Happening? On January 12, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed rule to implement the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Methane Waste Emissions Charge (WEC). The...more

EPA Proposes Oil and Gas Sector Methane Fee: Proposed Rule Includes Calculation Procedures for the Inflation Reduction Act’s...

Key Takeaways - • What Is Happening? On January 12, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed rule to implement the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Methane Waste Emissions Charge (WEC)....more

Pacific Northwest Climate Law Update: Recent Developments Cloud the Future of Oregon and Washington Climate Programs

Two developments toward the end of 2023 have clouded the future of climate policy in the Pacific Northwest. First, on November 21, 2023, opponents of Washington’s Climate Commitment Act (CCA) submitted more than 400,000...more

EPA Finalizes Air Rule Targeting Oil and Gas Industry Methane Emissions: Final Rule Includes New Source Performance Standards for...

Key Takeaways - • What Is Happening? On December 2, 2023, during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final Clean Air Act (Act) rule designed to...more

California Requires Disclosures for Voluntary Carbon Offsets and Climate-Related Claims Beginning in 2024

In addition to signing two significant new laws requiring large companies doing business in California to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), Governor Newsom on October 7 signed AB 1305, which creates new...more

California to Require Climate Disclosures from Large Companies

The California Legislature recently passed two new laws that impose significant climate-related disclosure obligations on many businesses. The passage of SB 261 and SB 253 are the latest steps in a growing trend to mandate...more

Key Considerations for Environmental Transactions: Seeing the Forest and Not Just the Trees

Corporate mergers, asset acquisitions, and divestitures often include a variety of environmental components or considerations – some of which can be nuanced – that can affect and can be affected by other non-environmental...more

The Biden Boomerang Effect Reaches Clean Water Act Section 401: EPA Reverses Trump-Era Rules that Reduced State Certification...

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

Ecology to Consider Expanding Carbon Offsets Available Under Washington State’s “Cap-and-Invest” Program

On September 12, 2023, the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) launched a new rulemaking addressing the use of carbon offsets to comply with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limits under Washington’s Climate Commitment...more

Major Questions Doctrine Reaches the Clean Water Act

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a district court’s dismissal of environmental plaintiffs’ claim that shrimp trawlers require either a Section 404 or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System...more

Unlocking Electricity Decarbonization? FERC Adopts Transmission Interconnection Reforms

On July 23, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) adopted Order No. 2023, a “landmark” order, which aims to significantly improve the interconnection of new generation and energy storage projects to the...more

White House Proposes to Again Overhaul NEPA Regulations

On July 31, 2023, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) proposed to update its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) across the federal government. Reflecting the increasingly...more

Major Questions About the Major Questions Doctrine: The U.S. Supreme Court Employs the Major Questions Doctrine to Strike Down the...

On June 30, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court invoked the “major questions doctrine” for the second time, concluding that the Biden Administration’s plan to forgive $430 billion of federal student loans under the Health and...more

BLM Proposes Rule to Further Promote Solar and Wind Development on Federal Lands

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published a Proposed Rule on June 16, 2023, that would, if adopted, amend its existing right-of-way regulations to promote solar and wind energy development on public lands administered by...more

Supreme Court Narrows CWA Jurisdiction Over Waters of the U.S.

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

EPA Proposes New Rule Strictly Limiting Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Nation’s Fossil Fuel Power Plants

On May 23, 2023, after months of anticipation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its proposal for sweeping greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards (GHG Rules) in the Federal Register that will, if...more

New Climate Rule Aimed to Cut Power Plant Emissions by 2040

Under the Biden Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to aggressively combat climate change. According to major media outlets, EPA will soon release a rule requiring power plants to...more

Ninth Circuit Causes a Ripple

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

Washington Department of Ecology Signals that Nooksack Basin Water Rights Adjudication is Ready for Launch

As previously discussed, the Washington legislature launched a process to quantify and permanently adjudicate water rights in the Nooksack River basin. After several years of preliminary work, the Washington Department of...more

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