April has proven a busy month for environmental issues when it comes to the regulatory arena. Below are just a few of the notable developments:...more
4/28/2025
/ Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Coal-Fired Plants ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Government Agencies ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration ,
Water Quality
In what it called “the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in U.S. history,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its most expansive deregulatory initiative to date on March 12, 2025. Through a...more
4/7/2025
/ Air Pollution ,
Automotive Industry ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CERCLA ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Deregulation ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Oil & Gas ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform
The nine judges that finally coalesced over the decision of affirmance voted for two inconsistent judgments and provided no explanation for this result.
The judges held that, under Laidlaw, civil penalties which must be...more
1/13/2025
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Burden of Proof ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Clean Air Act ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Violations ,
Pollution Control ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Standing ,
U.S. Treasury
It is instructive to review the Supreme Court’s record in its most recent term, concentrating on regulatory and administrative law cases, which are usually back-burner issues. But not this term....more
10/30/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Clean Air Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Firearms ,
First Amendment ,
Government Agencies ,
Gun Laws ,
Insurance Industry ,
Judicial Authority ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Media ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Supreme Court Justices
In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decided Chevron USA, Inc. v. National Resource Defense Council, reversing a lower court ruling that set aside EPA’s Clean Air Act “bubble policy” of providing regulatory relief from...more
7/25/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Certiorari ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Clean Air Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FCC ,
FERC ,
IRS ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
NEPA ,
NLRB ,
Relentless Inc v US Department of Commerce ,
SCOTUS
The Accidental Chemical Release Rules have an effective date of May 10, 2024, and includes a number of situations requiring compliance, generally by May 10, 2027.
The new Clean Water Act facility response plan...more
4/25/2024
/ Chemical Spills ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Incident Response Plans ,
New Rules ,
NRDC ,
Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) ,
Risk Management
It is clear that these have been busy months for federal environmental regulators, especially those working at EPA, the federal departments and the Council on Environmental Quality. Even the Department of Agriculture has...more
11/16/2023
/ Bureau of Land Management ,
CEQ ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Agriculture ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Government Agencies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Popular ,
Public Policy ,
RCRA ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
If “Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” It’s been a quiet term thus far for the Supreme Court, due in part to the hearing of oral arguments in many contentious cases. Below is a brief summary of some of the recent...more
This is a selection of significant environmental and regulatory law cases decided by the federal courts after the Supreme Court’s 2021 Term concluded....more
The courts have issued several new and significant rulings on environmental and administrative law the past few weeks. U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT - Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association,...more
The federal courts have issued some significant environmental law rulings in the past few days. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club, Inc. On March 4, 2021, the court held that the...more
3/25/2021
/ Act of God ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Department of the Interior ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Exxon Mobil ,
FERC ,
FOIA ,
Natural Gas ,
Pipelines ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service v Sierra Club
This is a brief review of recent significant environmental and administrative law rulings and developments. With the change in presidential administrations, the fate of at least some of the newly promulgated rules is...more
JANUARY 2020 -
FEDERAL APPELLATE COURTS -
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit -
El Paso County, Texas, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al.
On January 8, 2020, a divided panel of the court quickly granted a...more
1/27/2021
/ Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Coal ,
Damages ,
Deepwater Horizon ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Substances ,
NEPA ,
Oil Spills ,
Rivers ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
US-Mexico Border Wall ,
Water ,
Wildlife Protection
Here are some significant environmental and regulatory rulings and administrative actions from December 2020. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT - Texas v. New Mexico On December 14, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a water rights...more
1/14/2021
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Air Act ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
National Park Service ,
NPDES ,
SCOTUS ,
Texas v New Mexico ,
Water ,
Water Rights
THE FEDERAL APPELLATE COURTS - The U.S. Court of Appeals - On November 23, 2020, the court, in a 2-to-1 vote, rejected the plaintiff’s request for an emergency injunction pending appeal in the case of Manzanita Band of...more
As the end of summer approaches, the courts have provided a potpourri of relevant environmental decisions. FEDERAL COURTS OF APPEAL - Town of Weymouth, et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) -...more
Some very interesting and fairly complex environmental law rulings have been released in the past few days. U.S. Supreme Court—Trump, et al. v. Sierra Club, et al. On July 31, 2020, in a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court...more
Our latest look at the judiciary is focused mainly on the federal appeals system, with a side of regulatory development thrown in for good measure....more
The rapid spread of the coronavirus has generated new interest in the regulation of medical waste.
The COVID-19 crisis is generating a significant amount of regulated medical waste....more
The Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has released a “discussion draft” of the committee’s climate bill. ...more
Two recent decisions from federal appeals courts illustrate once again that the courts will extend significant judicial deference to federal agencies that are grappling with controversial and complicated issues subject to...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals or the District of Columbia has recently issued two important rulings on the Clean Air Act in particular and administrative law in general: California Communities Against Toxics, et al., v. EPA and...more
The latest federal regulatory agenda has been released, which, among other matters, lists proposed and projected environmental regulatory proceedings being considered by different departments and agencies. ...more
5/31/2019
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Coast Guard ,
Comment Period ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NPRM ,
OSHA ,
Safe Drinking Water Act ,
US Army Corps of Engineers
Besides showers, this April brought a number of notable new environmental decisions issued by the federal courts. ...more
On February 4, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held, in a Clean Air Act (CAA) Citizen Suit, that the U.S. Chemical and Safety Hazard Board (Board), an independent federal agency, has violated the...more