Environmental Law Advisor

The past year has seen a new star become fixed in the judicial firmament.

Louisiana has been at the center of the past year’s eruption of environmental-justice related enforcement activities.

The Minnesota Legislature is currently considering legislation prohibiting the presence of intentionally added PFAS in a variety of consumer products by 2026 and in all consumer products by 2032.

Executive branch priorities are clearly set out in agency budget requests. While the amount budgeted generally changes when Congress has its say, the original request provides unique insight into how agencies perceive what can and should happen in the next fiscal year.

The war on plastics and petrochemicals has ramped up in 2023. The first two months of the year have seen the petrochemical supply chain under stress.

Environment, social, and governance (ESG) considerations related to investment and corporate governance have made front-page news in recent months, as US elected officials debate whether industry-related ESG practices may violate antitrust laws.

No industrial company wants to find itself on the morning news tied to a chemical spill or train derailment. Events like those can transform even the most highly regarded company into a movie villain and give rise to substantial liability. Preparation is essential.

Consumer-focused recycling is often driven at the municipal level. For the most part, local governments determine what can be recycled and whether residents need to bring recyclable materials to a central collection point, or whether they are collected from households at some interval.

A new set of environmental policies embraced by the Biden Administration ― environmental justice (EJ) ― may soon spur litigation in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) space.

Americans have been “recycling” since colonial times. However, it wasn’t until the 1960s that Americans began viewing recycling ― often provided alongside rubbish removal ― a more formal solution to problems posed by consumer waste.

What buzzwords define the environmental space in the past two years? Both “ESG” and “environmental justice” (EJ) are strong contenders. This post outlines how these concepts relate and provides guidance as to how companies can stake out appropriate positions on EJ in ESG reporting.

Regulations matter. Federal executive action is supposed to be rooted in statutes, established through regulatory processes generally tied to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

The past few years have seen “ESG” — referring to environmental, social, and governance factors that influence decision making — move from being a fringe shareholder proxy issue to a front-of-mind C-suite issue. 

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 “not final” actions by the executive branch and litigation.

“Environmental justice” (EJ) continues as the primary leitmotif of Biden Administration environmental policy in the first weeks of 2023. 

How the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will factor environmental justice (EJ) principles into permitting decisions remained largely an open question throughout 2022. In the waning days of the year, EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation’s guidance engages with the question.

On New Year’s Eve, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed New York’s “Cumulative Impacts” bill into law, making New York the second state in the nation to require assessment of “cumulative impacts” affecting certain communities before an environmental permit is issued or renewed.

Businesses work to operate in compliance with relevant laws and generally work to avoid — if possible — scrutiny from regulatory agencies.

What will happen in the environmental and energy space in 2023? The last year saw transformative changes in the environmental and energy space in the form of historic spending through the federal Inflation Reduction Act, a major court decision involving hot-button topics.

US environmental policy changes tend to occur at a glacial pace, particularly at the federal level. Frustrated with the pace of change, environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and state regulators are increasingly alleging “ESG” and sustainability-focused claims.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was passed to help citizens stay informed about government activities.

The first two years of the Biden Administration have resulted in a seismic shift in terminology in the environmental space. Environmental justice (EJ), formerly viewed as a theoretical goal, has become unifying federal driver touching permitting, rulemaking, and civil-rights investigations.

“Administrative deference” is a key component to the modern regulatory state. The “Chevron doctrine,” i.e., the concept that the courts should defer to relevant agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous statutes they are tasked to administer, has been viewed as a key underpinning.

A new federal proposal may reduce the burden and costs for wind energy projects and power lines to ensure compliance with federal wildlife protections.

Securing environmental permits is often big part of operating a business. How the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent focus on environmental justice (EJ) issues might affect that permitting remains something of an open question.