Hours after his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed 26 executive orders (EOs). These EOs rescinded 80 prior executive actions issued by President Joe Biden’s Administration, including several that were key to...more
The Biden Administration’s Executive Order 14096, “Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All,” launched significant new policies to further integrate environmental justice throughout the federal...more
The Biden-Harris Administration continues to build on early efforts to integrate environmental justice with federal agency actions through a new executive order, Executive Order 14091, Further Advancing Racial Equity and...more
Companies considered to be “major” or “significant” US federal government contractors soon may be required to provide climate disclosures as part of the Biden Administration’s suite of policies designed to achieve net-zero...more
12/13/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Net Zero ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Disclosure ,
System For Award Management (SAM) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Biden Administration’s signature legislative achievement, includes several provisions aimed at fighting climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The law represents the...more
9/2/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Justice ,
Federal Funding ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Investment Tax Credits ,
Mineral Leases ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Production Tax Credit
Future federal environmental settlements are likely to include more creative remedies to address the impacts of violations on communities, thanks to recent policy changes at the US Department of Justice (DOJ)....more
7/25/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Environmental Violations ,
New Rules ,
Regulatory History ,
Settlement ,
Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Policy
On May 26, 2022, the United States Supreme Court ruled to allow the Biden Administration to continue using the social cost of carbon estimates in its regulatory analyses, developed pursuant to President Biden’s Executive...more
The Biden Administration will propose a rule “in the very near future” requiring major vendors supplying products and services to the federal government to report their greenhouse gas emissions and other climate-related...more
The path to advancing environmental justice (EJ) just got a lot clearer, thanks to a new digital mapping tool created by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). CEQ released a “beta” version of the Climate and...more
Today marks the 52nd Earth Day celebration, initially commenced in 1970 as citizens around the nation, and the world, gathered to demand stronger protection for the environment: cleaner water, air and land. As in 1970, the...more
4/25/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Risk Factors ,
Risk Management ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On November 5th, 2021, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an emergency regulation that assigns US employers a central role in the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 pandemic response. Several...more
11/9/2021
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Comment Period ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Mandates ,
Motion for Relief ,
OSHA ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Preemption ,
Public Comment ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Tenth Amendment ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On September 24, pursuant to President Biden’s September 9 Executive Order, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force published its anticipated guidance regarding the vaccination mandate and COVID-19 safety requirements for...more
10/1/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Certification Requirements ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Safety Precautions ,
Social Distancing ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The Biden Administration’s “whole of government” approach to advancing environmental justice (EJ) continues apace, with agencies and courts pursuing focused enforcement and environmental review strategies that could affect...more
9/20/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CalEPA ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FERC ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
NEPA ,
US Army Corps of Engineers
A new study by the U.S. Department of Energy supports a dramatic expansion in solar energy development, finding that solar energy could comprise as much as 40 percent of U.S. electricity supply within the next 15 years. The...more
9/14/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Energy ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Electricity ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
FERC ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Renewable Energy ,
Research and Development ,
Solar Energy ,
Tax Credits ,
Transmission Planning
In response to one of the worst outbreaks in the COVID-19 pandemic, attributable largely to the highly contagious Delta variant, President Biden on September 9 announced his six-prong Path Out of the Pandemic plan. To...more
9/13/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Interest in US offshore wind development is at an all-time high, as the Biden Administration and lawmakers continue to create renewable energy project incentives and opportunities, shareholders demand action from companies to...more
8/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
BOEM ,
Clean Energy ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Funding ,
FERC ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Infrastructure ,
Infrastructure Financing ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
NEPA ,
Offshore Wind ,
Operational Permits ,
Renewable Energy ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Wind Power
On May 20, President Biden issued his Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk (“Order”) which requires federal agencies to assess the potential impacts of climate change on public and private financial institutions...more
In an extended Earth Day event, President Biden hosted the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate (“Summit”) on April 22 and 23, seeking to unite nations around the world in the goal of reducing global greenhouse gas (“GHG”)...more
4/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Brazil ,
Canada ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FSOC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Japan ,
Proposed Legislation ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK
As part of his comprehensive climate change agenda, President Biden convened a task force to assess the social cost of greenhouse gases. At the end of February, the task force published an interim report estimating the “cost”...more
3/24/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Carbon Taxes ,
Climate Change ,
Cost-Benefit Analysis ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Obama Administration ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration
Upon taking office, President Joe Biden convened a task force to assess the social cost of greenhouse gases, as part of his comprehensive climate change agenda. At the end of February, the task force published an interim...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in recent weeks multiple efforts to highlight climate change in corporate disclosures and to increase scrutiny and, potentially, enforcement focus on company disclosure...more
3/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 10-Q ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On January 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued updated guidance aimed at helping employers implement COVID-19 Prevention Programs to better identify workplace risks that could lead to...more
2/3/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Executive Orders ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety
Fulfilling one of his central campaign promises, President Biden signed a wide-ranging Executive Order last week addressing climate change through energy, infrastructure, national security, foreign affairs, and social justice...more
2/2/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Domestic Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Foreign Policy ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Infrastructure ,
Paris Agreement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Renewable Energy
On January 21, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety (Order) directing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to take “swift action to reduce the risk that...more
Over the weekend, major news outlets announced that former Vice President Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States. Biden and his running mate, Vice Predident-elect Kamala Harris, pledged throughout the...more
11/10/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Land Management ,
Clean Energy ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Deregulation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Green Infrastructure ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Methane ,
Paris Agreement ,
Presidential Elections ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Sustainable Projects ,
Trump Administration