The Environmental Protection Agency intends to issue a rule updating its Clean Air Act emission standards for new and existing municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills to cut methane and other harmful landfill gas emissions....more
Tech-savvy energy producers are currently looking for economically viable methods to create “green hydrogen” from water using renewable electricity. This technology, which can produce clean fuel for planes, ships, and trucks,...more
On June 5, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed limits on the use of N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP), a solvent found in products such as arts and crafts supplies and paint remover. Manufacturers also use NMP during...more
In late April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a ban on most uses of methylene chloride, a toxic solvent used for paint stripping and linked to over 85 deaths in the last 45 years. The ban forbids all consumer...more
Regulations — and executive agencies’ interpretation of those regulations — can make or break companies, and even entire industries. For decades now, the judiciary’s approach to administrative review, found in the landmark...more
Chevron is part of a group of old-school fossil-fuel companies investing hundreds of millions of dollars into geothermal-energy projects aiming to use fracking-type technology to find and access underground heat — heat that...more
Right out of the gate in 2024, we’ve seen several states further regulate the sale of PFAS-containing products. On Jan. 1, a Connecticut statute took effect prohibiting the sale or promotion of any “food package to which PFAS...more
On January 12, 2024, a northern California federal district court dismissed the PFAS-related class-action case of Lowe v. Edgewell Personal Care Company on the grounds that its plaintiffs had not plausibly alleged injury from...more
In February 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument on various emergency stay applications addressing whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can implement its “Good Neighbor Plan” (the Plan) to reduce...more
If a company makes, distributes, or sells consumer products—including food products—containing chemicals that might turn the leaves brown, proposed amendments to California’s Proposition 65 may saddle it with additional...more
Since early 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency has pursued authority to establish a rule designating PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) as “hazardous substances” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,...more
Maine recently delayed the January 2024 implementation of a first-of-its-kind law requiring manufacturers to disclose PFAS in products sold in the state, effectively banning PFAS in most such products by 2030. Manufacturers...more
In what could be the start of a national trend, a state court judge recently ruled that Montana’s government must do more to protect the state and its residents from climate change. State District Judge Kathy Seeley, citing a...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced July 25 proposed updates to its Air Emissions Reporting Requirements (AERR), including a proposal to require the reporting of hazardous air pollutants, or “air toxics”...more
New Jersey just announced a proposed $393 million settlement with Solvay Specialty Polymers USA, LLC that would ensure the remediation of contamination near Solvay’s facility in West Deptford that manufactures plastic...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency continues its trend of limiting executive agencies, such as EPA, from expanding their authority when faced with statutory ambiguity —...more
6/2/2023
/ Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Sackett ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
California has begun the public process for a potential regulatory proposal expanding the list of chemicals that may be regulated under its Safer Consumer Products Program (SCP). The California Department of Toxic Substances...more
Companies operating in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia – whose operations involve the release of emissions — will need to...more
The European Union plans to push back against the clean-tech tax breaks provided in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) by easing subsidy rules and creating a new source of money to help member states compete with the United...more
More and more state legislatures are looking to PFAS exposure as one of the main focuses of their new environmental regulations. As of this month, Maine banned the sale of residential carpets containing PFAS and became the...more
Key Takeaways -
A new California statute governing claimants’ demands will take effect Jan. 1 mandating that an at-fault party’s liability insurer pay by a specific deadline the limits of its policy to settle claims...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission in March gave initial approval to the Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors. These disclosures include three different categories...more
Lawmakers from both parties, in both houses of Congress, have proposed bills intended to speed up forest-management projects that reduce wildfire fuels, like brush and small trees, which can cause large-scale fires of the...more
On September 19, 2022, a Cook County (Illinois) jury awarded $363 million to 70-year-old plaintiff Susan Kamuda in the first of many lawsuits against industrial sterilization company Sterigenics. These lawsuits accuse the...more
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that President Biden signed into law on August 16 ran, all told, about 725 pages. One of the more complex and—for businesses—interesting portions of this law involves its restructuring and...more