Last week, the White House began its interagency review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule to rescind its 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding and related vehicle greenhouse gas (GHG) standards....more
Over the past year, both the executive branch and the courts sought to pare back certain stringent aspects of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews. However, a decision issued in December 2025 illustrates that...more
Companies have long dreaded litigation filed by federal environmental regulators because such cases tended to last forever and posed financial and representational risk....more
12/15/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
New Guidance ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Reform ,
State and Local Government ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Policy ,
Trump Administration
In the environmental space, there is perhaps no more closely watched issue than how the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines the Clean Water Act term, “waters of the United States.”...more
A recent European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision on the obligations of European states to study carbon-intensive permitting decisions crystallizes how global climate commitments may be beginning to harden into...more
11/12/2025
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Litigation ,
EU ,
European Court of Human Rights ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Permits
The US Supreme Court has declined to review the Fifth Circuit’s decision in St. James Parish v. Inclusive Louisiana, leaving intact a unanimous ruling that environmental justice (EJ) organizations have standing to pursue a...more
10/24/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Municipalities ,
Permits ,
RLUIPA ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
State and Local Government ,
Zoning Laws
The first nine months of the Trump Administration have seen extensive use of Executive Orders (EOs) to “deregulate” and otherwise rollback Biden-era environmental policies....more
Industrial property transfers are drawing renewed interest from both domestic and foreign investors. These assets can be attractive, but US environmental law imposes strict, often joint and several, liabilities that can...more
This year, the environmental agenda has focused on “deregulation” to promote industrial competitiveness, as well as a sharpened focus on energy generation and transmission to support economic growth. While deregulation may...more
A South Carolina state trial court recently dismissed a climate tort case filed by the City of Charleston seeking to hold major energy companies liable for harms allegedly caused by climate change. This ended a case that had...more
8/14/2025
/ Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Judicial Authority ,
Jurisdiction ,
Oil & Gas ,
Preemption ,
Public Nuisance ,
State and Local Government
The climate debate has whipsawed in recent years. Businesses frequently have been caught in the middle, with stakeholders including government regulators, activist investors, consumers, non-governmental organizations, and...more
8/4/2025
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
International Court of Justice (ICJ) ,
Paris Agreement ,
Regulatory Requirements
Within this term, the US Supreme Court’s major environmental and administrative focus was on statutory text in its environmental and administrative decisions....more
7/18/2025
/ City and County of San Francisco v Environmental Protection Agency ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency v Calumet Shreveport Refining LLC ,
Executive Orders ,
Judicial Review ,
NEPA ,
Oklahoma v Environmental Protection Agency ,
Permits ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v Eagle County Colorado ,
Standing ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Trump v CASA
On July 8, the US Supreme Court allowed President Trump’s executive order (EO) permitting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)-related planning efforts for the Trump Administration’s restructuring of the federal...more
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — Congress’s budget reconciliation bill signed into law on July 4 — and a new Executive Order (EO) have clarified that solar and wind generation credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act...more
For decades, California has been granted unique deference in setting Clean Air Act (CAA) emissions limitations for California-sold vehicles through use of a state-specific waiver....more
Changes in presidential Administration often mean changes in policy priorities and budgeting, but a Maryland federal district court recently held that the executive branch’s ability to pivot on policy has limits....more
US Supreme Court Clean Air Act (CAA) decisions often result in big-picture changes to administrative law. Two CAA decisions this term deal with CAA’s venue-related provisions which specify where cases challenging US...more
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a federal statute that outlines how federal agencies must review the environmental impacts of their regulatory actions. The regulated community has often viewed NEPA as an...more
“Energy security,” the principle that when you flip a light switch the lights will turn on, is something that most Americans take for granted. But the mechanics behind it incorporate both century-old transmission towers and...more
5/29/2025
/ Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Electricity ,
Energy Policy ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Power Act ,
FERC ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Infrastructure ,
Power Grid ,
Puerto Rico ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Renewable Energy ,
State and Local Government
Shortly after taking office, President Trump froze funding already allocated to various parties, citing the Administration’s disapproval of issues including climate change and social equity. Additionally, executive agencies...more
For decades, businesses have focused on “doing more with less,” maximizing efficiency by optimizing resources and streamlining processes to achieve greater output with fewer inputs. This effort often involves leveraging...more
5/21/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) ,
Deregulation ,
Executive Orders ,
Government Agencies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration
For decades, regulators have tried to quantify harm related to emissions, including the “social cost of carbon” (SCC), but that approach has now changed. The Trump Administration recently released a memorandum seeking to...more
In recent years, environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and local governments have increasingly sued gas, oil, and energy companies, challenging their historic messaging on climate change, plastic recycling, and...more
On April 22, the Trump Administration issued an Executive Order (EO) directing the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to begin to unwind “disparate impact” regulations that were established under federal civil rights laws. In the...more
President Trump’s energy-focused ambitions will generate work for regulators at all levels of the government....more
4/17/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Coal Industry ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
FERC ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Renewable Energy ,
State and Local Government ,
Trump Administration