Environmental Justice, as an urgent priority of the Federal Government, dates back to 1994, and President Clinton’s issuance of Executive Order 12898. This order directed federal agencies to identify and address, as...more
This is a brief report on new environmental law decisions, regulations and legislation. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT - Massachusetts Lobsterman’s Association v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce - On March 22, 2021, the Supreme...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
February saw the usual array of significant environmental decisions and federal regulatory notices. THE FEDERAL COURTS - U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia - Luminant Generation v. EPA - The court will be...more
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
This is a brief review of the recently released “Climate 21 Project” policy memo. It is the work of many former members of the Obama Administration who are deeply concerned about climate change and what steps the new...more
11/20/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Agriculture ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of the Interior ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
NOAA ,
OMB ,
U.S. Treasury ,
US Department of State
This roundup of recent environmental and regulatory law rulings and rulemakings includes an EPA deadline extended, a NEPA exclusion and PSM application upheld, and an unsuccessful appeal to the federal officer removal...more
On March 2, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency revised its “On-Site Civil Inspection Procedures” in accordance with Executive Order 13892 . (The rules are located at 40 CFR Part 31.) These rules set forth the...more
Our latest summary of some recent developments in the courts and the federal agencies includes a unique case involving salt marshes adjacent to San Francisco Bay....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
Last week (June 1-7, 2020), the federal appellate courts released several important rulings. Town of Weymouth, et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection - On June 3, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals...more
The Fifth Circuit released three new decisions last Friday. On May 29, 2020. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit released three opinions in environmental cases: Stratta, et al. v. Roe, Director of the Brazos Valley...more
Here are a few interesting new rulings from the federal appellate courts. COURT ORDERS - Like a Good Neighbor …? — State of Maryland v. EPA - On May 19, 2020, the D.C. Circuit decided a Clean Air Act case involving the use of...more
This is a brief account of some of the significant environment law developments that have occurred since the President’s March 13 national emergency declaration that the spread of COVID-19 poses a threat to national security....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
Pandemic-related work stoppages and delays are affecting both field and non-field work at Superfund sites.
COVID-19 is impacting Superfund site investigations and response activities.
...more
It’s been an active month in terms of recent environmental and administrative law cases decided by the federal appellate courts. Flood Control and the Endangered Species Act. ...more
The Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has released a “discussion draft” of the committee’s climate bill. ...more
In late December, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the “Fall 2019 Unified Agenda of Regulatory Actions” just a few days before the Calendar turned to the year 2020....more
On November 21, 2019, EPA released a pre-publication copy of its Reconsideration of the revised Risk Management Program (RMP) Rules....more