Last year, the United States sued the State of Michigan, seeking a preemptive court order preventing Michigan from filing suit against firms in the “fossil fuel industry”. Michigan moved to dismiss, arguing that the case was…
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/ Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration plans to stop assigning dollar values to the human health benefits resulting from the imposition of national ambient air quality standards…
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/ Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Health
I think that any honest practitioner of administrative law would acknowledge that judicial deference in review of decisions under the Administrative Procedure Act has historically been a flexible concept. Judges inclined to…
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/ Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Environmental Law
The House of Representatives has passed the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act (the “SPEED Act,” H.R. 4776), which now moves to the Senate. If enacted, the SPEED Act would consolidate front end…
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/ Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
As we previously reported, Maine recently enacted changes to its Net Energy Billing (“NEB”) program. Those changes, in part, reduce compensation for existing commercial and industrial NEB program participants and implement a new…
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/ Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Energy & Utilities
Over the last year, the New York State (“NYS”) wetlands permitting and statutory regime has been flooded with activity as the impacts of the 2022 statutory amendments ripple outward. The 2022 changes were amendments to New York…
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/ Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
On July 17, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced a direct final rule and companion proposal extending several compliance deadlines related to coal combustion residuals (“CCR”). The direct final rule,…
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/ Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
Earlier this month, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) announced the completion of the RGGI Third Program Review, which resulted in several major changes to the RGGI Model Rule that will shape the program through…
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/ Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law
Because the risks posed by superfund sites pale in comparison to the risks posed by air pollution and broader water pollution issues regulated under the Clean Water Act, I have been and remain deeply skeptical of the Trump…
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/ Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law
On May 29, 2025, a unanimous Supreme Court (voting 8-0, with Justice Gorsuch recused) held that federal agencies need not consider the environmental effects of “upstream” and “downstream” projects that are separate in time or…
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/ Environmental Law, Transportation
On May 16, in Texas v. EPA, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected EPA’s nonattainment designation for two counties in Texas. What I find most interesting about the case is the reaction to it. Inside EPA (subscription…
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/ Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
The new administration has repeatedly expressed its staunch support for nuclear energy. President Trump’s first-day executive order “Unleashing American Energy” specifically encouraged the development of nuclear energy…
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/ Administrative Law, Energy & Utilities, Science, Computers, & Technology, Taxation, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
Earlier this week, my colleagues Adam Kahn and Kevin Chen posted about the proposed rule issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service that would rescind the definition of “harm” under the…
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/ Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a proposed rule to rescind the regulatory definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This…
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/ Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
On April 8, the White House issued an Executive Order aimed at “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach.” While the direct effects from this Executive Order are hard to assess, the Trump Administration clearly intends to…
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/ Constitutional Law, Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
