On August 13, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to halt enforcement of SB 253 (emissions disclosure) and SB...more
8/15/2025
/ California ,
CARB ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Climate Change ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
First Amendment ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State and Local Government
This series seeks to identify legal questions that can add definition and value to the good work that sustainability teams are doing. ...more
8/11/2025
/ California ,
CARB ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Rules ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Sustainability ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") proposed a rule that would rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding, citing a new interpretation of the relevant section in the Clean Air Act ("CAA"), a lack of clear congressional...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") proposes rescission of the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which underpins greenhouse gas regulation under the Clean Air Act....more
8/1/2025
/ Automotive Industry ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Deregulation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Motor Vehicles ,
NPRM ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trump Administration
This series of posts seeks to identify legal questions that can add definition and value to the good work that sustainability teams are doing. Our last post focused on whether the revenue used to evaluate the applicability...more
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) published two new topic standards—GRI 102: Climate Change (2025) and GRI 103: Energy (2025). These standards will replace GRI 305: Emissions (2016), GRI 302: Energy (2016), and Disclosure...more
7/24/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Downstream Agreements ,
Energy Consumption ,
Energy Efficiency ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Renewable Energy ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability ,
Upstream Contracts
This series of posts seeks to identify legal questions that can add definition and value to the good work that sustainability teams are doing. Our last post focused on the applicability of the climate-related financial...more
This series of posts seeks to identify legal questions that can add definition and value to the good work that sustainability teams are doing....more
On July 9, 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a set of Frequently Asked Questions related to regulatory development and initial reporting obligations under SB 253 and SB 261. ...more
7/10/2025
/ California ,
CARB ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Policies ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Government Agencies ,
New Guidance ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process
On June 11, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") announced a proposed rule to repeal key amendments to the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards ("MATS") for coal- and oil-fired electric utility steam...more
6/23/2025
/ Air Pollution ,
Clean Air Act ,
Coal Industry ,
Comment Period ,
Deregulation ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Infrastructure ,
MATS ,
Mercury ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Oil & Gas ,
Power Plants ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Trump Administration ,
Utilities Sector
On June 11, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") issued a proposed rule to repeal all greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions standards for fossil fuel-fired electric generating units ("EGUs") under § 111 of the...more
6/20/2025
/ Clean Air Act ,
Comment Period ,
Deregulation ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Power Plants ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements
Trump Paves Way for Coal Renaissance and Targets State Climate Change Efforts -
In early April, President Trump issued several presidential actions to revive the coal industry, including rolling back environmental...more
6/19/2025
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Deregulation ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
Zero-Emission Vehicles
The National Environmental Protection Act ("NEPA") requires that federal agencies assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making final decisions, including decisions on issuing federal permits,...more
6/17/2025
/ CEQ ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Review ,
Executive Orders ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Government Agencies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
NEPA ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Reform ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration
On May 29, 2025, a virtual public workshop held by the California Air Resources Board ("CARB") offered direction on how it interprets certain elements of California's climate disclosure laws. While CARB has a July 1, 2025,...more
6/5/2025
/ California ,
Cap-and-Trade ,
CARB ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Filing Requirements ,
Government Agencies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Proposed Rules ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government
President Trump issued Executive Order ("EO") 14270 to reform the regulatory framework governing energy production through sunset provisions on all existing and future energy regulation....more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") announced it would reconsider the 2024 Risk Management Program ("RMP") rule....more
4/1/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Deregulation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Infrastructure ,
National Security ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") announced an agenda to revisit numerous regulations addressing the emission of greenhouse gases ("GHGs")....more
REDD+ stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, with the "+" representing the additional focus on conservation, sustainable management, and forest carbon stock enhancement. Originally formalized...more
On March 12, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") issued a flurry of press releases announcing its plan to rollback dozens of Biden-era, as well as earlier, environmental regulations. This historic move is part...more
The Biden administration's rule requiring the payment of a fee for methane emissions has effectively been rescinded, although, for now at least, the statutory provision imposing the fee remains in effect along with other...more
3/18/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Deregulation ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Joint Resolutions ,
Methane ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
On March 4, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in City & County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency and clarified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA") and state...more
3/13/2025
/ California ,
City and County of San Francisco v Environmental Protection Agency ,
Clean Water Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NPDES ,
Permits ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Reform ,
San Francisco ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation
President Trump concluded that the integrity and expansion of the energy infrastructure of the United States is an immediate priority for the nation's economic and national security....more
On December 26, 2024, New York enacted a law requiring certain energy companies to contribute cumulatively $75 billion to a climate "superfund" over the next 25 years....more
1/10/2025
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Reform ,
State and Local Government ,
Superfund
New ESG regulations are expected to have a significant impact on disclosure and governance obligations for EU and non-EU companies alike, including extensive sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements on...more
12/11/2024
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Coal Mines ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hague Convention ,
Infrastructure ,
Pollution Control ,
Shell Oil
The voluntary carbon credit ("VCC") market has become increasingly important in achieving net-zero goals for companies. However, the market has recently undergone scrutiny after reports of ineffective VCCs. Recent parallel...more