On-Demand Webinar | Regulatory Uncertainty and Linear Infrastructure Projects: Where Are We and What’s Ahead?
PFAS: Increasing Regulations and Managing Legal Liability
On-Demand Webinar | Linear Infrastructure Redux: Adapting Your Projects to Meet the New Regulatory Climate
The Current and Future Landscapes of EPA Criminal and Civil Enforcement
On-Demand Webinar | The New NEPA Regulations: A Practical Guide to What You Need to Know
One-on-One with David Fotouhi, Acting General Counsel at the EPA
Volatile Times in Vapor Intrusion Regulation: A Legal and Technical Update
[WEBINAR] Fairly (or Unfairly?) Traceable: Are Discharges Through Groundwater Subject to the Clean Water Act?
[WEBINAR] Update on the California Environmental Quality Act: What’s New for 2018
Wisconsin Attorney General (AG) Josh Kaul has announced an $85,000 settlement with the global food supply company Kerry, Inc. in relation to the company’s operation of a liquid smoke manufacturing facility....more
On June 11, 2024, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced his inaugural appointments to the new Fifteenth Court of Appeals. The new intermediate court of appeals will take effect on September 1, 2024, and have statewide...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a Final Rule on April 19, 2024, designating two of the most common per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—PFOA and PFOS, including their salts and structural...more
Capping a flurry of recent activity concerning per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), US EPA on April 19, 2024 designated two PFAS as hazardous substances. Designations of other PFAS are likely to follow. The same day,...more
On November 22, Wisconsin Attorney General (AG) Josh Kaul announced that his office settled a civil enforcement action against Paul Bugar Trucking, Inc. and its owner, Paul J. Bugar. Kaul alleged the defendants violated a...more
In June 2022, the Supreme Court issued its decision in West Virginia v. EPA, which held that, under the “major questions doctrine,” the EPA lacked the authority under the Clean Air Act to devise emissions caps based on the...more
Settlement agreements regarding payments to non-governmental third parties were sharply curtailed by the Trump administration. A recent DOJ policy and rulemaking restores the authority for DOJ to enter into settlements...more
On May 5, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the return of supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) in U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) settlements. SEPs are voluntary projects intended to benefit the environment...more
In August, we provided an overview of the recent increase in regulatory and private litigation activity around per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), colloquially known as “forever chemicals,” and potential insurance...more
In this episode of Green Earth White Collar, Wiley Associates Grace Mahan and Holly Wilson discuss the trends they’ve seen in EPA criminal and civil enforcement over the last year and share their predictions for EPA...more
While the texts of environmental laws do not change without an act of Congress, executive branch agencies that enforce those laws have a great deal of discretion in what kinds of violations to prioritize for investigation and...more
Please see full graphic below for more information...more
Join Vinson & Elkins for our tenth annual seminar discussing timely topics surrounding unconventional oil and gas development. Our shale and hydraulic fracturing legal team will provide a comprehensive analysis of the...more
Is federalism alive and well? Has the federal government decided to give up “piling on” and “overfiling” in environmental enforcement actions? It seems so. On July 27, 2020, in an effort to promote federalism, U.S. Department...more
Federal agencies to limit water pollution enforcement where states have taken action - Bullet The Hill – July 27 - The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday released a memorandom stating that it will not pursue...more
- Effective March 12, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice is no longer including supplemental environmental projects (“SEPs”) in the settlement of civil enforcement actions brought by the U.S. Environmental Protection...more
EPA continues its regulation of PFAS by shifting focus to the importation of certain PFAS-containing articles. - EPA goes for the low-hanging fruit by using TSCA to restrict the importation of long-chain PFAS that already...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken three steps since June 2017 through August 2019 that severely limit the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in civil environmental settlements. Those actions are...more
Three memos with potentially important implications for enforcement were recently issued—one by EPA and two by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)....more
A one-page memorandum from Attorney General Jeff Sessions could cause significant changes to how settling defendants can use supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) in settling Department of Justice (DOJ) environmental...more
On June 7, 2017, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a policy memorandum dated June 5, 2017 that prohibits the allocation of settlement funds to non-governmental, third-party organizations, as a condition of...more