Supplemental environmental projects or “SEPs” are “environmental” projects that a defendant agrees to undertake as part of a negotiated settlement of a federal enforcement action. SEPs have been used as a discretionary...more
On April 9, 2021, the Office of Management and Budget sent the Biden Administration’s Discretionary Budget Request to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D.-VT, chairman of the Appropriations Committee (Biden Budget) This $1.5 Trillion...more
The Biden Administration has made environmental justice and equity a key pillar of its environmental policy, directing EPA to incorporate this concept at all levels of its decision-making process. EPA’s Administrator Michael...more
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), enacted in 1976, authorizes the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate the manufacture or importation of new and existing chemicals. TSCA’s regulations include...more
Over the past four years, we have been faced with several thought provoking questions – What is a showerhead? How many times do you have to run a dishwasher to get clean dishes? What type of lightbulb best illuminates a...more
All indicators point to a 180-degree turn from the Trump de-regulatory effort. The question becomes where will the Biden administration start? On his first day in office, President Biden published a “List of Agency Actions...more
Along with its efforts to repeal, revise and develop regulations, one of the more fundamental impacts of the Biden administration on the regulatory state may be the process of how the benefits and costs of regulations are...more
It has been 50 days since Joseph R. Biden was sworn into office. His inauguration was soon followed by the swearing in of two Democratic Senators from Georgia with the result that, for the first time since 2010, there is a...more
Consistent with former administrations, the Biden administration took early actions to halt or review administrative regulations. One of the earlies administrative actions taken by the Biden administration was to freeze...more
A unified Congress has the opportunity to reverse “midnight rules”– those regulations finalized in the waning days of the Trump administration - through use of its review powers under the 1996 Congressional Review Act, 5...more
The United States Supreme Court has expanded the authority of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate discharges to groundwater. The Court announced a new legal test for when discharges directly to...more
4/24/2020
/ Appeals ,
Clean Water Act ,
Direct Discharge ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Functional Equivalent ,
Groundwater ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
Navigable Waters ,
Permits ,
Point Sources ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
Waters of the United States
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes that work shortages, stay-in-place orders, travel restrictions, social distancing recommendations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will have an impact on...more