The full scope of the Trump Administration’s deregulatory efforts in the environmental space was recently made clear with a series of announcements from US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin....more
In the environmental space, 2024 has been a memorable year with regulatory efforts and court decisions touching on every aspect of environmental and energy regulation, capped out by a closely divided election....more
12/24/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Citizen Suits ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Coal Industry ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
PFAS ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
TransUnion LLC v Ramirez
While a dispute over the Clean Air Act’s (CAAs) venue provision may seem arcane, a forthcoming US Supreme Court decision will affect core principles of the separation of powers and constitutional due process in ways that may...more
On September 11, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took final action approving a revision to California’s State Implementation Plan (SIP) to include the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s (SCAQMD)...more
Often motivated by the lack of federal engagement on environmental issues, various states have evaluated adding “Green Amendments” to their state constitutions. The practical impact of these amendments will be borne out as...more
On the second-to-last day of its term, the US Supreme Court issued its decisions in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Dep’t of Commerce. These decisions overruled Chevron USA. v. National Resource...more
7/2/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Clean Air Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Authority ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
West Virginia v EPA
While environmental justice (EJ) concerns continued to drive policymaking in early 2024, EJ efforts increasingly faced headwinds coming from various and sometimes unexpected directions. Below, we will summarize recent...more
4/17/2024
/ City of Chicago ,
Clean Air Act ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Final Rules ,
Human Rights ,
Louisiana ,
NGOs ,
Petrochemicals ,
Plastics ,
Settlement ,
State Implementation Plans (SIPs)
Historically, regulations under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) and related state laws divided the world into “stationary” and “non-stationary sources.” “Stationary sources” included facilities like power plants and factories...more
2/7/2024
/ Clean Air Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Motor Vehicles ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Warehouses
A recent Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii decision permitted climate-related claims against major petroleum and gas companies to proceed toward trial.
The decision in City and County of Honolulu v. Sunoco LP allows...more
11/16/2023
/ Business Litigation ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
Infrastructure ,
Misleading Statements ,
NGOs ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petroleum ,
Power Purchase Agreements ,
Public Utility ,
SCOTUS
Louisiana has been at the center of the Biden Administration’s prioritization of environmental justice (EJ) issues.
In United States v. Denka Performance Elastomer, the Eastern District of Louisiana granted a motion by the...more
9/11/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Emergency Powers ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Louisiana ,
NESHAP ,
OMB ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Public Health ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Statute of Limitations
In the United States, environmental and public health measures often correlate to variables like education, income, and a community’s racial makeup. In the five decades since Congress began to create comprehensive...more
7/7/2023
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
CERCLA ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Equal Protection ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Title VI ,
Title VII
Addressing environmental justice (EJ) issues has been a primary concern for the Biden Administration. Recent developments — one in Chicago and one in Louisiana — show different ways local and state regulators have reacted to...more
The onslaught of environmental justice-related reforms has continued in early 2023. Below, we will outline four issues to keep an eye on in the coming quarter....more
Executive branch priorities are clearly set out in agency budget requests. While the amount budgeted generally changes when Congress has its say, the original request provides unique insight into how agencies perceive what...more
3/22/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Budgets ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
SCOTUS ,
West Virginia v EPA
No industrial company wants to find itself on the morning news tied to a chemical spill or train derailment. Events like those can transform even the most highly regarded company into a movie villain and give rise to...more
What buzzwords define the environmental space in the past two years? Both “ESG” and “environmental justice” (EJ) are strong contenders. This post outlines how these concepts relate and provides guidance as to how companies...more
These days, environmental policy is often established indirectly. While “Schoolhouse Rock” may have taught some of us “How a Bill Becomes a Law,” its insights are less relevant in the current era where things like purportedly...more
1/20/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
CEQ ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
NEPA ,
New Guidance ,
New Regulations ,
NGOs ,
Superfund
“Environmental justice” (EJ) continues as the primary leitmotif of Biden Administration environmental policy in the first weeks of 2023.
Below, we unpack two recently announced EJ efforts: a grant program for groups in...more
1/18/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Grants ,
NEPA ,
New Guidance ,
Pesticides ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Waste Management ,
Water
How the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will factor environmental justice (EJ) principles into permitting decisions remained largely an open question throughout 2022. In the waning days of the year, EPA’s Office of...more
In a recent US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) letter issued to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) and the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), the Biden Administration deploys its plans to use...more
10/26/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
CERCLA ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Department of Environmental Quality ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Investigations ,
Louisiana ,
NAAQS ,
Regulatory Oversight
Standing is a major issue in nearly all environmental citizen suit cases. A split panel of the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court’s award of a $14.25 million Clean Air Act (CAA) penalty against a...more
9/12/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Exxon Mobil ,
NGOs ,
Penalties ,
Pollution Control ,
SCOTUS ,
Settlement ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) reflects the Biden Administration’s attention to issues of environmental justice and environmental equity. The IRA, directly and indirectly, invests in environmentally overburdened...more
8/23/2022
/ Air Pollution ,
Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
HUD ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Investment ,
Pollution Control ,
Superfund
Environmental justice (EJ) issues continue to be at the forefront of the Biden Administration’s regulatory agenda, with promises to deploy non-environmental statutes - most notably, federal civil rights laws - to address...more
7/27/2022
/ CERCLA ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Funding ,
HUD ,
Title VI
The US Supreme Court’s decisions of late have been consequential. While headline-grabbing decisions deal with religious liberties, privacy, and gun control, the Court’s impact on administrative law will have major...more
7/7/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Biden v Missouri ,
Chevron Deference ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS
One of the US Supreme Court’s final opinions this term addressed US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs) under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA). The decision in West Virginia v...more