On September 6th, the Maryland Department of the Environment (“MDE”) officially withdrew the proposed regulations it had previously issued in December 2023, creating statewide Building Energy Performance Standards (“BEPS”)...more
The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (“PEER”) organization has issued an August 2024 report titled: Enforcement Efforts by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (“Report”)....more
Paraco Gas Corporation purchased an insurance policy for Directors, Officers and Private Company Liability (“D&O”) from Ironshore Indemnity, Inc. that covered certain acts of Paraco’s officers and directors. Paraco...more
Five environmental organizations entered into a Joint Notice of Settlement (“Settlement”) with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (“FDEP”) in the United States District Court for the District of Florida. See...more
Maine has once again amended and clarified its statutory restrictions on the sale of numerous categories of PFAS-containing products. The net effect of the legislation, enacted on April 16, 2024, is to 1) limit the scope and...more
Some of you may recall my earlier reports on Nantucket NIMBYs' efforts to deny local Chef Gabriel Frasca the opportunity to deliver fried food and soft ice cream to the Island's residents and visitors. These legal challenges...more
EPA issued a press release yesterday that caught my eye and if you're in the business of building things, including solar projects, it is worthy of your attention too. The press release announces a settlement between a solar...more
On April 16, 2024, Maine Governor Janet Mills signed into law significant amendments to the PFAS in Products Law. Initially passed in 2021, the PFAS in Products Law required manufacturers of products with intentionally added...more
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law the Flood Risk Notification Law (P.L. 2023, c.93) on July 3, 2023, amending the Truth-in-Renting Act (P.L. 2001, c.313) and supplementing the Consumer Fraud Act (P.L. 1960, c.39),...more
Over three years ago, the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave Clean Water Act 404 permitting powers to the State of Florida. A few days ago, a judge at the U.S. District Court for the District of...more
“Error: 404 not found.” The dreaded message you see when you visit a website that no longer exists. A District of Columbia federal district court judge ended the existence of Florida’s “404 program” (for protection of federal...more
The regulations aim to provide a legal framework for China’s carbon allowance trading market by strengthening requirements and designating responsibilities. On January 25, 2024, Chinese Premier Li Qiang signed a decree of...more
On February 14, Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Andrea Joy Campbell filed a civil lawsuit against Holtec Decommissioning International LLC and its affiliate Holtec Pilgrim LLC (Holtec), alleging the improper handling of...more
By statutory enactment, Maine intends to ban the sale, marketing, and distribution of products or product components containing intentionally added PFAS, effective January 1, 2030. 38 M.R.S. § 1614. This follows Maine’s...more
Building on its “Get Stuff Built” plan, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has proposed amendments to the Rules of the City of New York that would remove layers of environmental review for certain residential developments. The...more
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has posted for public comment its draft Chapter 375 rulemaking, which would establish a compensation fee for solar, wind, and “high-impact transmission line” projects. ...more
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has proposed sweeping and substantive changes to its Chapter 2 rules, which govern permit applications, appeals, permit modifications and suspensions, and other...more
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is now accepting proposals from entities that wish to obtain currently unavoidable use (CUU) designations under the PFAS in Products statute. This statute allows the...more
Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is soliciting proposals for currently unavoidable use (CUU) designations under the state’s statute regulating the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances...more
As the post-pandemic job market has peaked in many areas of the economy, it may seem surprising that one local employer is aggressively hiring: our own Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. DEP is looking to...more
On December 7, the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) voted to post to public comment amendments to two Department of Environmental (DEP) sets of rules. The first proposes changes to Chapter 200, Metallic Mineral...more
Good afternoon! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past few weeks and forthcoming climate-related events and...more
Florida was hit by Hurricane Ian in September 2022 and Hurricane Nicole in November 2022, both of which caused severe damage to various parts of the state. In response to these disasters, the Florida Legislature enacted...more
Imagine you’ve purchased some land and plan to build your dream home. You know you need several government approvals, and your contractor says this includes something called a “Chapter 102″ permit. No problem. The folks at...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and Advance Stores Company, Inc. and Advance Auto Distribution Center ("Advance" collectively") entered into a May 19th Consent Agreement ("CA") addressing alleged...more