Business Better Podcast Episode: An Update on Environmental Justice Under the Biden Administration
On-Demand Webinar | Planning and Funding Climate Resilient California Coastal Infrastructure
Natural Resource Damages & Environmental Justice
Drinking Water on Tap: Money, Morality, and More with Tracy Mehan from the American Water Works Association - Reflections on Water Podcast
Williams Mullen Manufacturing Edge: Environmental Enforcement in the Current Regulatory Climate
On-Demand Webinar | Linear Infrastructure Redux: Adapting Your Projects to Meet the New Regulatory Climate
The Southern Environmental Law Center (“SELC”) on behalf of the Environmental Justice Community Action Network filed a Proposed Judicial Consent Decree (“CD”) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of...more
The United Stated Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (“9th Circuit”) in an August 28th Memorandum addressed a post-trial Motion subject to a Clean Water Act criminal enforcement trial. See U.S. v. Louie Sanft, 2024 W.L....more
The Environmental Integrity Project, Texas Environmental, Justice Advocacy Services, Caring for Pasadena Communities, and Sierra Club (collectively, “EIP”) submitted an August 19th Title V Petition to Object (“Petition”)...more
On August 22, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana permanently blocked the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice from implement Civil Rights Act Title VI...more
In a recent development, North Carolina Attorney General (AG) Josh Stein announced his intention to appeal a Wake County Superior Court decision regarding allocation of environmental grant funds from Smithfield Foods. The...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has long conducted inspections to assess the efficacy of companies’ environmental compliance programs. However, under the EPA’s Climate Enforcement and Compliance...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced more than $325 million in funding for 21 projects aimed at addressing environmental and climate justice issues in disadvantaged communities. This funding...more
This blog posting is derived from an article I recently published in the University of Missouri, Kansas City Law Review at the invitation of our Fellow and friend Irma Russell, to whom I am indebted for much guidance and...more
Several industries in the United States are expanding the use of injecting captured carbon dioxide (CO2) into deep underground wells (or geologic formations). The impetus of this carbon capture and sequestration (CCS)...more
On May 15, EPA announced it was going to update to its EJScreen tool in June. According to EPA’s website, “EJScreen is EPA's environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent...more
The Interior Department, EPA and Department of Energy (DOE) announced updated equity plans in February 2024. The three updates respond to President Biden’s 2023 Executive Order and the Administration’s initiative to advance...more
In the first half of 2024, EPA has finalized a host of rules driven, at least in part, by concerns about disparate impacts and environmental justice. For instance, in conjunction with an April rule targeting greenhouse...more
A hallmark of the Biden Administration’s approach to environmental justice has been using preexisting authorities to advance its agenda, none more so than Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. That approach now faces several...more
In a groundbreaking move, effective July 1, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection will tighten the permitting requirement for certain existing and new sources of air pollution located near an environmental...more
The Biden-Harris Administration recently issued a suite of new rules aimed at addressing water and air quality, reducing methane emissions, protecting environmental justice communities, and accelerating the nation’s...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced on May 15th a final rule that would revise the Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”) Consumer Confidence Report Rule (“CCRR”). Consumer Confidence Reports are...more
On May 1, 2024, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published its Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule (Rule), which is also known as the Phase 2 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rule....more
Attorneys General from 23 states have filed a petition for rulemaking with the Environmental Protection Agency demanding the agency stop using Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when regulating pollution. The petition,...more
Two individuals filed a Petition for Review (“Petition”) before the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Environmental Appeals Board (“Board”) challenging an Underground Injection Control (“UIC”) Class II-D...more
Last month, I posted about a lawsuit brought by a Boston citizens group, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. The group was seeking to enjoin the City of Boston and other parties from moving forward with a Project to upgrade and...more
While environmental justice (EJ) concerns continued to drive policymaking in early 2024, EJ efforts increasingly faced headwinds coming from various and sometimes unexpected directions. Below, we will summarize recent...more
Four years ago, President Biden ran on an ambitious climate action agenda and the Biden/Harris Administration, from the first day in office, has a laser focus on tackling the “climate crisis,” On January 27, 2021, the...more
The Biden Administration has released its Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”). EPA Administrator Regan in a March 11th news release states that the Budget Request...more
For half a century, young people in the United States have played an active role in ongoing efforts to address climate change. Moving into 2024, young climate litigants find themselves in a promising position: They recently...more
Supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) provide one means of addressing environmental violations in alignment with the Biden Administration’s comprehensive environmental justice (EJ) strategy. SEPs were explicitly endorsed...more