Despite the Biden administration’s public support for carbon capture and sequestration (“CCS”), we saw neither faster CCS permit approvals from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) nor a significant push towards...more
With respect to federal procurement, EO 14030 proposes to integrate climate disclosure and impact reduction efforts into the acquisition process. Specifically, EO 14030 requires that the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (“FAR”)...more
The acting head of the EPA’s enforcement office issued a memorandum on June 21, 2021 (the “Memorandum”), that outlines actions to advance the EPA’s environmental justice (“EJ”) goals in criminal enforcement matters....more
In recent years, there has been no shortage of interest and commentary dedicated to a group of chemicals known collectively as PFAS. As one example, the potential designation of certain PFAS — PFOA and PFOS (perfluorooctanoic...more
Within the first month of the Biden administration, we have seen a high level of attention on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”). Increased focus on these “forever chemicals” is setting the stage for a challenging...more
On February 5, 2021, the acting head of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) division that brings environmental enforcement cases issued a memo revoking nine policy directives from the prior administration, including...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
On January 27, 2021, President Biden released an “Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.” Among a host of sweeping proclamations and orders involving foreign and domestic policy on climate change,...more
On January 13, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (“the EPA”) announced its enforcement results for fiscal year (“FY”) 2020. The results show that the EPA had a steady year for civil enforcement resolutions and opened...more
PFAS regulation is one of the hot environmental topics and a key issue to watch during this next year. In this series of posts, V&E will address the increasing regulatory attention concerning a group of chemicals known as...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
1/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Natural Resources ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Methane ,
OECA ,
OIRA ,
Performance Standards ,
Renewable Energy ,
Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Policy
The Biden administration identified environmental justice (“EJ”) as a campaign priority1 and the Biden-Harris team has continually emphasized its commitment to environmental justice, stating that the administration would...more