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
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
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") announced an agenda to revisit numerous regulations addressing the emission of greenhouse gases ("GHGs")....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 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
REGULATORY ISSUES & UPDATES -
Update on Australia's New Climate-Related Financial Disclosure Regime -
Australia's mandatory climate-related financial disclosure regime is inching closer to implementation after the proposed...more
9/23/2024
/ Clean Air Act ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
Popular ,
Tax Credits
The California legislature continues to press forward with the implementation of two of the state's sweeping climate disclosure laws after a proposal to delay the implementation dates by the governor failed to be considered...more
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") has released proposed regulations regarding the Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 ("IRA"). The proposed regulations provide more...more
9/19/2024
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Energy ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hydrogen Power ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Production Tax Credit ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Renewable Energy ,
Tax Credits ,
U.S. Treasury
There are three offshore wind farms operational in the United States today: the Block Island Wind Farm, which commenced operation in 2016; the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which became operational in 2020; and most...more
Vermont passed a first-of-its-kind law requiring energy companies to pay for part of the damages from extreme weather events, but the law likely will face legal challenges....more
6/10/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Liability ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
National Emissions Standards ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Severe Weather ,
Superfund ,
Vermont
The Situation: The United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") was required to overhaul the greenhouse gas reporting requirements for the petroleum and natural gas industry by the Inflation Reduction Act ("IRA") in...more
The Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service released newly proposed regulations regarding the clean electricity production and investment tax credits....more
6/3/2024
/ Clean Energy ,
Energy Projects ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Investment Tax Credits ,
IRS ,
Oil & Gas ,
Production Tax Credit ,
Proposed Regulation ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Zero Emission Credits
On April 25, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") finalized four rules to regulate pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants. EPA's stated goal was to provide a framework on which power plants can rely for...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") finalized the strictest-ever emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles. On March 29, 2024, EPA announced new emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles for model years 2027...more