The path to advancing environmental justice (EJ) just got a lot clearer, thanks to a new digital mapping tool created by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). CEQ released a “beta” version of the Climate and...more
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan recently announced a series of significant actions to advance environmental justice. The U.S. Department of Justice...more
5/12/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Public Comment ,
Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Policy ,
Tribal Lands
On April 28, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced an action against Brazilian mining company, Vale S.A., in relation to an environmental and social catastrophe: the collapse of its Brumadinho dam in...more
Today marks the 52nd Earth Day celebration, initially commenced in 1970 as citizens around the nation, and the world, gathered to demand stronger protection for the environment: cleaner water, air and land. As in 1970, the...more
4/25/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Risk Factors ,
Risk Management ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Yesterday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) proposed groundbreaking rules intended to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosure requirements for public companies. The SEC’s climate...more
3/23/2022
/ Annual Reports ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Yesterday the Supreme Court stayed the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard (ETS), resolving months of legal uncertainty over its fate. In blocking the...more
Upon taking office in January, the Biden Administration immediately prioritized climate change and environmental justice, fulfilling President Biden’s campaign promise. In the past two weeks, President Biden reiterated those...more
11/16/2021
/ Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
IFRS ,
Infrastructure ,
International Standards ,
Methane ,
Paris Agreement
On November 5th, 2021, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an emergency regulation that assigns US employers a central role in the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 pandemic response. Several...more
11/9/2021
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Comment Period ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Mandates ,
Motion for Relief ,
OSHA ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Preemption ,
Public Comment ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Tenth Amendment ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On September 24, pursuant to President Biden’s September 9 Executive Order, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force published its anticipated guidance regarding the vaccination mandate and COVID-19 safety requirements for...more
10/1/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Certification Requirements ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Safety Precautions ,
Social Distancing ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The Biden Administration’s “whole of government” approach to advancing environmental justice (EJ) continues apace, with agencies and courts pursuing focused enforcement and environmental review strategies that could affect...more
9/20/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CalEPA ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FERC ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
NEPA ,
US Army Corps of Engineers
A new study by the U.S. Department of Energy supports a dramatic expansion in solar energy development, finding that solar energy could comprise as much as 40 percent of U.S. electricity supply within the next 15 years. The...more
9/14/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Energy ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Electricity ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
FERC ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Renewable Energy ,
Research and Development ,
Solar Energy ,
Tax Credits ,
Transmission Planning
In response to one of the worst outbreaks in the COVID-19 pandemic, attributable largely to the highly contagious Delta variant, President Biden on September 9 announced his six-prong Path Out of the Pandemic plan. To...more
9/13/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Interest in US offshore wind development is at an all-time high, as the Biden Administration and lawmakers continue to create renewable energy project incentives and opportunities, shareholders demand action from companies to...more
8/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
BOEM ,
Clean Energy ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Funding ,
FERC ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Infrastructure ,
Infrastructure Financing ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
NEPA ,
Offshore Wind ,
Operational Permits ,
Renewable Energy ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Wind Power
In its first six months, the Biden Administration has taken tangible steps to advance environmental justice (EJ) across the federal government. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have...more
In the face of criticism for its recently proposed standards about mask wearing and social distancing, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal/OSHA”) has now announced revised amendments to its...more
From June 2 to June 4, leading central bankers, policymakers, regulators, private sector CEOs, civil society members and academics gathered for the Green Swan 2021 Global Virtual Conference.
The conference was co-hosted...more
6/8/2021
/ Banking Sector ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
European Central Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Reporting ,
Insurance Industry ,
International Financial Reporting Standards ,
International Monetary Fund ,
Paris Agreement ,
Professional Conferences ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Sustainability ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) ,
Transparency ,
United Nations
On May 20, President Biden issued his Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk (“Order”) which requires federal agencies to assess the potential impacts of climate change on public and private financial institutions...more
As President Biden’s first executive orders demonstrate, climate change is now at the heart of the federal environmental policy agenda. Outside of government, there’s a growing momentum among private companies to focus on and...more
In an extended Earth Day event, President Biden hosted the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate (“Summit”) on April 22 and 23, seeking to unite nations around the world in the goal of reducing global greenhouse gas (“GHG”)...more
4/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Brazil ,
Canada ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FSOC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Japan ,
Proposed Legislation ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK
On March 31, 2021, the Biden Administration released in broad brushstrokes its plan to address the country’s infrastructure. The “American Jobs Plan” calls for a grand total of more than $2 trillion in federal investment...more
As part of his comprehensive climate change agenda, President Biden convened a task force to assess the social cost of greenhouse gases. At the end of February, the task force published an interim report estimating the “cost”...more
3/24/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Carbon Taxes ,
Climate Change ,
Cost-Benefit Analysis ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Obama Administration ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in recent weeks multiple efforts to highlight climate change in corporate disclosures and to increase scrutiny and, potentially, enforcement focus on company disclosure...more
3/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 10-Q ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On March 4, 2021, the US Supreme Court held that draft biological opinions prepared by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) were subject to the deliberative process privilege...more
3/15/2021
/ Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FOIA ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Privileged Communication ,
Privileged Documents ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Agencies ,
Public Records ,
SCOTUS ,
Sierra Club ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service v Sierra Club
As COVID-19 vaccinations become increasingly available to the general public, employers are considering whether to mandate or encourage their workers to get vaccinated. Below we share some common vaccine-related questions we...more
2/10/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The Biden Administration is seeking to advance “environmental justice” (EJ) through its policy and regulatory priorities in a way that no administration has before. Environmental justice - which seeks to address...more
2/4/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Black Lives Matter ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Minorities ,
National Environmental Policies ,
Native American Issues ,
Popular ,
Public Health