The Ninth Circuit recently weighed in on whether localities’ natural-gas infrastructure bans are preempted by federal laws including the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA).
Some background. Many regulators and...more
The onslaught of environmental justice-related reforms has continued in early 2023. Below, we will outline four issues to keep an eye on in the coming quarter....more
The past year has seen a new star become fixed in the judicial firmament. The US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division, has found new prominence, most recently retaining a challenge 26 states...more
Louisiana has been at the center of the past year’s eruption of environmental-justice related enforcement activities.
The complaint in Inclusive Louisiana et al. v. St. James Parish et al., found here, is tied to three...more
Executive branch priorities are clearly set out in agency budget requests. While the amount budgeted generally changes when Congress has its say, the original request provides unique insight into how agencies perceive what...more
3/22/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Budgets ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
SCOTUS ,
West Virginia v EPA
The war on plastics and petrochemicals has ramped up in 2023. The first two months of the year have seen the petrochemical supply chain under stress....more
Environment, social, and governance (ESG) considerations related to investment and corporate governance have made front-page news in recent months, as US elected officials debate whether industry-related ESG practices may...more
No industrial company wants to find itself on the morning news tied to a chemical spill or train derailment. Events like those can transform even the most highly regarded company into a movie villain and give rise to...more
A new set of environmental policies embraced by the Biden Administration ― environmental justice (EJ) ― may soon spur litigation in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) space....more
2/21/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Business Operations ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Investors ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Risk Management ,
Sustainability
Americans have been “recycling” since colonial times. However, it wasn’t until the 1960s that Americans began viewing recycling ― often provided alongside rubbish removal ― a more formal solution to problems posed by consumer...more
What buzzwords define the environmental space in the past two years? Both “ESG” and “environmental justice” (EJ) are strong contenders. This post outlines how these concepts relate and provides guidance as to how companies...more
Regulations matter. Federal executive action is supposed to be rooted in statutes, established through regulatory processes generally tied to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and — at least conceptually — rooted in the...more
The past few years have seen “ESG” — referring to environmental, social, and governance factors that influence decision making — move from being a fringe shareholder proxy issue to a front-of-mind C-suite issue....more
These days, environmental policy is often established indirectly. While “Schoolhouse Rock” may have taught some of us “How a Bill Becomes a Law,” its insights are less relevant in the current era where things like purportedly...more
1/20/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
CEQ ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
NEPA ,
New Guidance ,
New Regulations ,
NGOs ,
Superfund
“Environmental justice” (EJ) continues as the primary leitmotif of Biden Administration environmental policy in the first weeks of 2023.
Below, we unpack two recently announced EJ efforts: a grant program for groups in...more
1/18/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Grants ,
NEPA ,
New Guidance ,
Pesticides ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Waste Management ,
Water
How the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will factor environmental justice (EJ) principles into permitting decisions remained largely an open question throughout 2022. In the waning days of the year, EPA’s Office of...more
As Illinois’ implementation of the Energy Transition Act, PA 102-0662 — commonly referred to as the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) — continues, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) is developing a Renewable Energy...more
On New Year’s Eve, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed New York’s “Cumulative Impacts” bill into law, making New York the second state in the nation to require assessment of “cumulative impacts” affecting certain...more
1/4/2023
/ Air Pollution ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Waste ,
New York ,
Noise Control Ordinances ,
Permits ,
Pollution Control ,
SEQRA ,
Solid Waste
Businesses work to operate in compliance with relevant laws and generally work to avoid — if possible — scrutiny from regulatory agencies. For many businesses, including those that devote considerable resources to meeting...more
What will happen in the environmental and energy space in 2023? The last year saw transformative changes in the environmental and energy space in the form of historic spending through the federal Inflation Reduction Act, a...more
12/15/2022
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
NGOs ,
PFAS ,
Popular ,
Sackett ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
US environmental policy changes tend to occur at a glacial pace, particularly at the federal level. Frustrated with the pace of change, environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and state regulators are increasingly...more
12/12/2022
/ Compliance ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
NGOs ,
Petrochemicals ,
Plastics ,
Sustainability ,
Transparency
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was passed to help citizens stay informed about government activities. While improving the availability of information under FOIA has been a long-term goal for the executive branch,...more
The first two years of the Biden Administration have resulted in a seismic shift in terminology in the environmental space. Environmental justice (EJ), formerly viewed as a theoretical goal, has become unifying federal driver...more
A new federal program that will provide up to $8 billion to the clean hydrogen industry reached its first milestone last week, with at least a dozen groups applying to be selected as “regional clean hydrogen hubs.”
Each of...more
“Administrative deference” is a key component to the modern regulatory state. The “Chevron doctrine,” i.e., the concept that the courts should defer to relevant agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous statutes they are tasked...more