ESG Essentials: What You Need To Know Now - Episode 18 - The Reshaping of ESG & DEI
Environmental Agencies, Superfund Cleanups, and Managing Enforcement Actions
Drinking Water on Tap: Money, Morality, and More with Tracy Mehan from the American Water Works Association - Reflections on Water Podcast
Because the risks posed by superfund sites pale in comparison to the risks posed by air pollution and broader water pollution issues regulated under the Clean Water Act, I have been and remain deeply skeptical of the Trump...more
In recent years, states and municipalities have attempted to hold fossil fuel companies liable for their alleged impacts on climate change. Numerous states and municipalities have sued fossil fuel companies, alleging that...more
States are increasingly turning to “Climate Superfund” laws as a potential mechanism to offset the growing costs of climate-related disaster recovery and the construction of more climate change-resilient infrastructure. These...more
A coalition of industry associations and 22 state attorneys general (AG), led by West Virginia AG JB McCuskey, filed a lawsuit against the State of New York in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York...more
On February 6, 2025, twenty-two states and four energy industry organizations and businesses filed a lawsuit challenging New York’s “climate superfund” law. This law, signed on December 26, 2024 by New York Governor Kathy...more
A group of 22 Republican AGs, along with several coal, oil, and gas companies and industry trade associations, sued New York over the state’s Climate Superfund Act, which authorizes the state to levy billions of dollars in...more
With the incoming Trump administration poised for an attack on federal environmental regulations, states are quickly emerging with actions on climate change. On December 26, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into...more
On December 26, 2024, New York enacted a law requiring certain energy companies to contribute cumulatively $75 billion to a climate "superfund" over the next 25 years....more
In a “paradigm shift in environmental liability,” some states are seeking to legislate financial responsibility on large coal and oil & gas companies for the public costs associated with strengthening infrastructure against...more
Addressing environmental justice (EJ) issues has been a primary concern for the Biden Administration. Recent developments — one in Chicago and one in Louisiana — show different ways local and state regulators have reacted to...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
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) reflects the Biden Administration’s attention to issues of environmental justice and environmental equity. The IRA, directly and indirectly, invests in environmentally overburdened...more
On May 26, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of the General Counsel released EPA Legal Tools to Advance Environmental Justice (“EJ Legal Tools”). The document builds on and updates EPA’s 2011 Plan EJ 2014:...more
On April 8, 2022, U.S. EPA added the industrial solvent 1-bromopropane (1-BP) to its list of CERCLA hazardous substances; this listing was triggered by U.S. EPA’s decision to add 1-BP to the Clean Air Act’s list of hazardous...more
EPA and OMB issue directives and propose an initial budget for the Biden Administration’s EJ initiatives - With the Biden Administration’s appointees now in place, environmental justice (EJ) is moving to the forefront of...more
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), also known as the Superfund law, imposes strict, joint and several, and retroactive liability. Over time, many companies and their legal...more
EPA’s decision to forego financial requirements will likely face opposition by eNGOs. On July 2, 2019, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its proposed decision not to impose new financial responsibility...more
Besides showers, this April brought a number of notable new environmental decisions issued by the federal courts. ...more
Ever since President Trump took office in January 2017, several questions have arisen within the environmental community regarding how his administration will change the legal and enforcement priorities of the United States...more
• The Trump Administration released an ambitious $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan on Feb. 12, 2018 – a plan that includes many provisions focused upon encouraging the reuse of contaminated brownfields and Superfund sites. ...more
On June 1, 2017, President Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement (“Paris Agreement”). The Paris Agreement was signed by 195 countries in December of 2015. The goal of the...more
Do air emissions of hazardous substances create a cleanup liability under the Superfund? In the closely watched case of Pakootas, et al. v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd., the Ninth Circuit said, “no,” becoming the highest court...more
The warm summer breeze you felt on July 27th may have been caused by the collective sigh of relief from the nation’s manufacturers and mining companies over the Ninth Circuit’s holding that Teck Cominco (a mining company)...more
The news has been full of stories and articles concerning Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR), also referred to as coal ash. CCR became a hot topic in 2008 when a coal ash pond at a utility plant in Tennessee spilled more than 5...more
Environmental and Policy Focus: California renewable energy zone plan gets revamp after criticism: Reuters - Mar 10: An ambitious plan to put California's renewable energy projects in areas where the environment will...more