The Legal and Practical Challenges of California's Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation
Nota Bene Episode 101: Catching up with Global Climate Regulation with Nico van Aelstyn
Schoenbrod: SCOTUS Ruling Helps EPA Deal With a "Stupid Statute"
In a significant victory for environmental advocacy groups, the Supreme Court’s refusal on June 30, 2025 to grant certiorari in two pivotal cases (Port of Tacoma, et al. v. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and ExxonMobil Corp., et...more
As reported in our May 14, 2025, blog item, on May 12, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied a petition filed under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) seeking to prohibit the use of...more
In a partially published 102-page opinion filed June 26, 2025, the Second District Court of Appeal (Div. 7) resolved cross-appeals by affirming the trial court’s judgment invalidating Los Angeles County’s 2019 EIR...more
The Southern Environmental Law Center (“SELC”), on behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, sent a June 17th Notice of Intent to Sue (“Notice”) to various entities stated to be associated with...more
The Environmental Integrity Project and Kentucky Resources Council (collectively, “EIP”) filed a June 9th Title V Petition to Object (“Petition”) before the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) related to...more
On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court held that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — which requires federal agencies to analyze the environmental impacts of projects that they perform, fund, or approve — does not...more
On May 16, in Texas v. EPA, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected EPA’s nonattainment designation for two counties in Texas. What I find most interesting about the case is the reaction to it. Inside EPA (subscription...more
On May 16, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a significant ruling in a longstanding dispute between the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...more
The Center for Biological Diversity (“CBD”) filed a May 8th Clean Air Act Title V Petition to Object (“Petition”) before the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) relating to Bargath, LLC for the Hyrup...more
The Conservation Law Foundation (“CLF”) and Twin Rivers Technologies (“TRT”) entered into a March 30th Consent Decree (“CD”) addressing alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. See No....more
One hundred environmental organizations transmitted an April 21st letter to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator asking that the federal agency: …maintain and promptly implement a vital,...more
Three individuals (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) filed on April 18th a class action Complaint (“Complaint”) against Eco-Vista, LLC (“Eco-Vista”), in the Circuit Court of Washington County, Arkansas. See 72CV-25-1748....more
The Center for Biological Diversity (“CBD”) filed an April 3rd Clean Air Act Title V Petition to Object (“Petition”) before the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) related to DC Operating Company, LP for the...more
Wisconsin Attorney General (AG) Josh Kaul has announced an $85,000 settlement with the global food supply company Kerry, Inc. in relation to the company’s operation of a liquid smoke manufacturing facility....more
Less than a month after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published environmental operational standards and greenhouse gas emission regulations for owners and operators of heavy-duty vehicles, including major freight...more
On Tuesday, in Ohio v. EPA, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied several challenges to EPA’s decision to restore California’s authority under § 209(b) of the Clean Air Act to regulate emissions from motor vehicles. It’s...more
Earlier this month, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals vacated most of EPA’s startup, shutdown, and malfunction SIP Call. The Court’s rationale boils down to EPA’s failure to make a predicate finding that the SIP call...more
On February 7, 2024, EPA finalized a rule lowering the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM2.5 to 9.00 ug/m3. This is a significant reduction from the current 12.00 ug/m3 standard and a victory for...more
This is a brief roundup of recent federal court environmental and regulatory law decisions from the federal courts over the past few months, including the much anticipated ruling in Sackett, et ux., v, Environmental...more
As Seth Jaffe posted last week, the 9th Circuit recently struck down the City of Berkeley’s first-in-the-nation electrification ordinance that prohibited the installation of gas infrastructure in new buildings, finding the...more
Last week, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected challenges to EPA’s “Revised Cross-State Air Pollution Update Rule”. The Court found that the Rule was “an appropriate exercise of EPA’s statutory authority”....more
As noted in a February 20th post several Requests for Hearings were filed before the Arkansas Pollution Control & Ecology Commission (“Commission”) addressing an application seeking to modify a permit for an open-cut mining...more
Earlier this month, United States District Court Judge Stephen Wilson held that NL Industries was not liable under CERCLA for air emissions of lead because such emissions did not constitute “disposal” within the meaning of...more
As noted in an April 27th blog post, the Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (“Complaint”) in the United States...more
A few considerations practitioners should keep in mind when dealing with contamination involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. The PFAS Action Act of 2021 passed in the House and was received in...more