On March 14, 2025, President Trump signed legislation disapproving the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation implementing the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax on methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The Joint...more
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
On February 19, 2025, the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) released a pre-publication version of an interim final rule (the “Interim Rule”) to rescind all of CEQ’s previous and current regulations implementing the...more
2/24/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Final Rules ,
NEPA ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
In his first two days in office, newly inaugurated President Donald J. Trump signed a flurry of Executive Orders, including several aimed at supporting the traditional energy industry. The Unleashing American Energy Executive...more
2/17/2025
/ CEQ ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Government Agencies ,
NEPA ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
The incoming Trump Administration is expected to prioritize the rollback of Biden-era endangered species regulations, aiming to reduce the regulatory burden on land-intensive businesses and enhance energy independence. This...more
1/10/2025
/ Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Trump Administration ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
Wildlife Protection
During the 2024 campaign, President-elect Donald Trump promised his supporters that he would direct federal agencies on day one to “immediately remove every single burdensome regulation driving up the cost of goods.” For the...more
12/5/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Congressional Review Act ,
COP ,
Deregulation ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
PFAS ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Policy ,
Trump Administration ,
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
On May 1, 2024, the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) published the final version of Phase 2 of its National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) rulemaking (“Phase 2 Rule”). The Phase 2 Rule is the culmination of the...more
Federal agencies are required to conduct assessments under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) before taking “major federal actions,” such as granting permits needed for infrastructure projects and for certain...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has proposed regulating six per- and polyfluoroalkyl (“PFAS”) in drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”). In a proposed rule published on March 29, 2023, EPA...more
In a move that could have far-ranging implications for projects that require federal permits and rulemaking across the entire federal government, the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) published interim...more
Last November, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a regulatory preamble describing its plans for proposed standards to reduce methane emissions and other air pollutants from affected sources within the...more
11/25/2022
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Methane ,
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Wells ,
Popular ,
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a long-anticipated proposal to designate two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund law known as the Comprehensive...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has proposed substantial changes to its Risk Management Program (“RMP”) regulations aimed at preventing chemical facility accidents, a move that will affect industrial...more
On October 25, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released a final human health toxicity assessment for two PFAS substances — hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid and its ammonium salt — also known as “GenX...more
EPA announced plans for two separate rulemaking processes that would expand liabilities for PFAS wastes. The first — a rulemaking process to add certain PFAS chemicals as “hazardous constituents” under the Resource...more
The first action proposes first-time emission guidelines to reduce methane emissions from almost 1 million existing oil and gas wells, almost 2,000 existing interstate natural gas compressor stations, and over 500 existing...more
11/5/2021
/ Air Pollution ,
Clean Air Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Methane ,
Natural Gas ,
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pollution Control ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Storage Tanks ,
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
In September 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released its Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15 (“Preliminary Plan 15”) which includes two new rulemakings that are intended to reduce Per- and...more
10/22/2021
/ Clean Water Act ,
Contamination ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Drinking Water ,
Effluent Limitations ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
NPDES ,
PFAS ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Wastewater
Join V&E environmental lawyers Matthew Dobbins, Corinne Snow, and Patrick Traylor as they host a CLE via webcast on the EPA’s new proposed rule for methane from the oil and gas sector, provide an update on air enforcement and...more
Join Vinson & Elkins for our eleventh annual seminar focusing on what you need to know about the most important evolving topics and the changing regulatory environment surrounding unconventional oil and gas...more
9/30/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Hydraulic Fracturing Study ,
Oil & Gas ,
Upstream Contracts ,
Webinars
In the upcoming weeks, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is expected to release a proposed rule that would greatly expand methane regulations for the oil and gas sector. While EPA has previously issued regulations...more
9/27/2021
/ Clean Air Act ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Methane ,
Natural Gas ,
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
While much of recent federal per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) regulatory activity has focused on water supply and soil contamination of PFAS compounds, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) ongoing...more
On April 29, 2021, the Senate passed a resolution (the “Resolution”) to disapprove a rule adopted by the Trump administration which lifted certain requirements that had been put in place by an Obama-era methane rule, also...more
5/3/2021
/ Barack Obama ,
Clean Air Act ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Joe Biden ,
Methane ,
Natural Gas ,
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Trump Administration
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
Each new presidential administration brings with it its own set of policy goals and priorities. While the text of the environmental laws does not change without an act of Congress, agencies within the executive branch have a...more
Each new presidential administration brings with it its own set of policy goals and priorities. While the text of U.S. environmental law does not change without an act of Congress, agencies within the executive branch have a...more