Tennessee’s new Brownfield legislation proposed by Governor Bill Lee provides significant incentives for acquisition of contaminated property. The legislation envisions three new areas of concentration for brownfield...more
3/27/2023
/ Brownfield Properties ,
Contaminated Properties ,
Environmental Policies ,
Excise Tax ,
Franchise Taxes ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Tax Increment Financing ,
Tennessee ,
Urban Planning & Development
On December 30, 2022, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) (together the Agencies) issued a prepublication version of the latest definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS). It will become effective when...more
1/10/2023
/ Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Navigable Waters Protection Rule ,
Rulemaking Process ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
The Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law on Tuesday, August 16 and significantly advances the innovative financing method known as green banking. Here are three ways the Act furthers that investment technique in...more
8/19/2022
/ Air Pollution ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Energy ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Funding ,
Financing ,
Green Banks ,
Green Finance ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Investment ,
New Legislation
On June 29, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an arcane portion of the Clean Air Act (“CAA”), infrequently used by the EPA, could not serve as appropriate delegation of legislative authority to regulate greenhouse gas....more
7/1/2022
/ Air Pollution ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Global Warming ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Pollution Control ,
Power Plants ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
West Virginia v EPA
The U.S. Department of Justice issued new guidelines on May 5, 2022, for supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) as part of a settlement in civil matters. The Trump administration halted nearly all SEPs in 2017 because of...more
Justice Breyer used the above folksy culinary analogy in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, decided April 23, 2020, to explain why a NPDES permit could be required for the discharge of wastewater to groundwater and then...more
5/5/2020
/ Appeals ,
Clean Water Act ,
Direct Discharge ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Functional Equivalent ,
Groundwater ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
Navigable Waters ,
Permits ,
Point Sources ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
Waters of the United States
How should the regulated community address environmental regulatory requirements during the pandemic? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that it expects full compliance with all environmental rules...more
On January 23, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (the “Agencies”) issued the “Navigable Waters Protection Rule” as the latest attempt to define the phrase “waters of the...more
1/29/2020
/ Clean Water Act ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Deregulation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Final Rules ,
Inland Waterways ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
Navigable Waters ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
The commissioners of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) recently responded to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s request to States for comments...more
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (“TDEC”) is soliciting comments on its new Antidegradation Guidance Document. The document, dated July 19, 2016, was made public January 5, 2016. TDEC is requesting...more
EPA is increasing civil penalties for all statutes it administers that call for the assessment of civil penalties. These increases are not recommendations or proposed statutory amendments, but are the result of perhaps the...more
An approved jurisdictional determination (“JD”) by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) can be appealed to Federal District Court according to a unanimous United States Supreme Court decision issued May 31, 2016, U.S....more
6/2/2016
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Final Judgment ,
Hawkes Co v United States Army Corps of Engineers ,
Judicial Review ,
Jurisdictional Determination (JD) ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 404 ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
Can you appeal a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ jurisdictional determination (“JD”) that a water feature constitutes waters of the United States? The Administrative Procedures Act allows such an appeal if it is determined that...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a nationwide stay of the controversial EPA/Corps of Engineers Clean Water Rule which was effective August 28, 2015. Some 30 states, industry and environmental groups had...more
Today, the State of Tennessee joined in one of the many lawsuits filed by States challenging the EPA and Corps of Engineers Final Rule that defines of Waters of the United States under the federal Clean Water Act. See...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) published their Final Rule defining “waters of the United States” on June 29, 2015. The rule becomes effective on August 28, 2015. The...more