NEWSLETTERS

Lawyers Urge Uncertain Firms To Comply With CARB GHG-Disclosure Rules

Industry attorneys are recommending that even if large companies are uncertain if they must comply with the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) pending greenhouse gas and climate risk disclosure rules, they should still file initial reports when they are due, in anticipation that board officials will clarify key terms and definitions early next year. “I think that companies should conservatively assume that if there is the possibility that they’ll need to report, go ahead and report, even if it is...

Law Firm Says New California Cap & Invest Laws Send ‘Strong’ Global Signal

Two new California laws to extend and modify the state’s greenhouse gas market -- which has been renamed as a “cap-and-invest” program -- are sending “a strong signal globally” about using such systems to address carbon emissions, according to an analysis by attorneys with the industry-focused law firm Latham & Watkins. “The new laws restore long-term‑ statutory authority, largely maintaining the market architecture that has governed the program since 2017, and preserve significant discretion for the California Air Resources Board...

Citing Climate, Justices Doubt Trump Authority To Impose Unilateral Tariffs

Most of the Supreme Court’s conservative justices joined their liberal colleagues in expressing doubts over President Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to unilaterally impose tariffs, with Justice Neil Gorsuch warning the government’s stance could allow future presidents to impose tariffs to address a climate emergency. But while the justices expressed doubts on the government’s position, they appeared to be more divided on whether the duties Trump has imposed so far could survive under a relatively...

Democrats’ Election Wins Boost Calls To Embrace ‘Clean, Cheap’ Energy

Democrats’ strong showing in the Nov. 4 off-year elections is prompting clean energy advocates to ramp up their pitch for policymakers to embrace “cheaper and cleaner” power as an electoral boost, amid indications that concerns about inflation and affordability were a major factor in the party’s victories. The scope of the victories -- centered largely in liberal or swing states like California, Virginia and New Jersey but also including key pickups in conservative states like Georgia -- is also prompting...

Critics Say DOJ Uses Vague Language To Confuse Courts In EJ Grant Cases

Trump administration critics say it is intentionally using vague language in executive orders and legal filings in order to confuse courts and stymie legal challenges to EPA and other agency efforts to freeze environmental justice (EJ) grants over the administration’s opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. The effort, so far, appears to be working, at least in getting courts to reject preliminary injunction (PI) requests that in many cases will then allow EPA to move obligated and awarded,...

Tariff Case Seen Driving Courts On ‘Major Questions,’ Emergency Action

The Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments Nov. 5 in a case over President Trump’s tariffs and the decision could have big impacts for the reach of the “major questions” doctrine (MQD) in environmental cases, whether courts can review presidential emergency actions and could even help drive future environmental policy, sources say. The case, Learning Resources, Inc., et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al. , challenges Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Power Act (IEEPA) to impose...

Utilities Press EPA To Boost WIFIA Support Amid Loan-Closure Slowdown

A coalition of wastewater and drinking water groups is urging EPA to boost its support for its Water Infrastructure and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan program given key financial aid it provides for water infrastructure projects amid fears over significant slowdowns in WIFIA loan closings over the past year. Led by the Water Environment Federation, the groups sent an Oct. 27 letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, urging EPA to “continue growing this important source of financing for locally- and regionally-...

Industry Faults CARB GHG-Reporting Template, Seeks Compliance Delays

Numerous industry groups from across the country are faulting the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) greenhouse gas-reporting template that thousands of companies can use to publicly divulge for the first time their emissions profiles as required by a landmark 2023 state law, while also reiterating calls for compliance delays. “[T]here are concerns that use of the Draft Reporting Template, which contains nearly 200 spreadsheet rows, is likely to result in over-reporting, impose undue administrative burdens, and compromise the accuracy and...

Court Grants Industry Bid To Block CARB Enforcement Of Clean Truck Pact

A federal court is granting truck manufacturers’ request for a preliminary injunction on the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) 2023 Clean Truck Partnership (CTP), agreeing with industry that CARB’s recent state court suit to enforce the deal marked a backdoor means of enforcing emissions rules despite Congress’ repeal of EPA’s preemption waivers. However, the court is rejecting the truck makers’ request for injunctions on several CARB regulations, as well as their First Amendment claim. CARB’s “filing of that lawsuit is...

Environmentalists, Utilities Clash Over Softening California GHG Targets

California’s largest electric utilities and environmentalists are clashing over whether the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) should ease greenhouse gas-reduction targets for 2030 and beyond, engaging in disputes about whether enough affordable renewable power will come online to meet demand growth and achieve the targets. “The Commission must uphold and maintain its greenhouse gas (‘GHG’) planning targets,” attorneys for the California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) and Sierra Club argue in Oct. 31 comments to CPUC. “Some parties suggest loosening the...

EPA Continues CCR Enforcement Amid Trump Shifts, Former Official Says

EPA is continuing to enforce violations of its 2015 coal combustion residuals (CCR) regulations despite broad concerns regarding a Trump administration retreat, a former enforcement official says, but the types of violations the agency is enforcing appear likely to shift given ongoing and future changes to the agency’s regulatory landscape. “I actually don’t think enforcement is retreating on coal ash,” Lynne Davies, former chief of the Waste Enforcement Branch in EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) now at...

Environmentalists Reassess NEPA Strategy After String Of Court Losses

Environmentalists are reassessing their strategy when bringing new cases under National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) following mounting court losses in the wake of the Supreme Court’s landmark Seven County ruling bolstering agency deference and narrowing the scope of reviews. Environmentalists say they are still determining how best to move forward while conceding that they can no longer bring cases alleging that broad downstream climate impacts must be considered in NEPA reviews. “We’re more cautious about the litigation we’re bringing...

EPA Union Breaks With AFGE, Backs Democrats’ Shutdown Demands

The head of EPA’s largest union is urging congressional Democrats to hold out for healthcare concessions in the ongoing government shutdown battle, linking it to EPA’s role in protecting human health, apparently breaking with the larger union organization, which has recently called for an end to the shutdown. “Trump and Republicans in Congress have the power to end the shutdown now by supporting a deal that includes healthcare funding,” said Justin Chen, president of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)...

UN, Experts See Globe ‘Very Likely’ To Warm Well Above 2 Degree Target

Updated projections from the United Nations and other experts are finding that the world is "very likely" poised to exceed the long-established climate target of restricting warming to 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century -- offering a worrisome backdrop for policymakers ahead of next week's international climate summit in Brazil. This year’s U.N. Environment Program “gap report,” which officials will release Nov. 4, sees limited progress with regard to global warming projections as compared to last year...

DOE Seeks Proposals For $100 Million In Coal Power Plant Retrofit Projects

The Department of Energy (DOE) is soliciting applications for up to $100 million to support retrofits of existing coal-fired power generation -- including upgrades to enable fuel switching or co-firing with gas -- as part of Trump officials’ broader pledges to “expand and reinvigorate” the coal sector. The Oct. 31 announcement of a notice of funding opportunity formally titled “ Improving Efficiency, Reliability and Flexibility of Coal Based Power Plants ” underscores the Trump administration’s continuing pivot away from renewables...

EPA’s Repeal Proposal Sparks Fears Of Costly GHG Reporting ‘Patchwork’

Technology and other groups are warning that EPA’s proposal to gut its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) could raise costs to businesses due to the likely need to implement ramped up voluntary or state-based reporting programs, while also jeopardizing the competitiveness of U.S. exports. The concerns surface in formal comments to the agency filed by a Nov. 3 deadline, including warnings that scuttling GHG reporting mandates could spur a proliferation of state reporting programs and hamper data availability critical to...

EPA’s Repeal Proposal Sparks Fears Of Costly GHG Reporting ‘Patchwork’

Technology and other groups are warning that EPA’s proposal to gut its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) could raise costs to businesses due to the likely need to implement ramped up voluntary or state-based reporting programs, while also jeopardizing the competitiveness of U.S. exports. The concerns surface in formal comments to the agency filed by a Nov. 3 deadline, including warnings that scuttling GHG reporting mandates could spur a proliferation of state reporting programs and hamper data availability critical to...

Biofuels Groups Seek Full ‘Reallocation’ Of Waived RFS Refiner Volumes

Biofuels groups are pressing EPA for a full “reallocation” of waived renewable fuel standard (RFS) blending volumes when it finalizes its RFS requirements for 2026 and 2027, rebuffing the agency’s proposal to reallocate only half of the volumes waived for small refiners and asserting that anything less than full reallocation is unlawful. In comments on EPA’s supplemental RFS proposal for 2026 and 2027 submitted ahead of an Oct. 31 deadline, biofuels groups were adamant that EPA must reassign all waived...

Lawyers See More Legal Uncertainty Amid Aggressive Push To Ease NEPA

Attorneys are expecting continued uncertainty and delays regarding National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews amidst the Trump administration’s aggressive push to streamline them, arguing that the blizzard of policy changes combined with federal agency staff cuts is heightening complications. “I wish that [executive branch NEPA reform] was being done . . . in a more, maybe, thoughtful way,” said Andrea Driggs, a partner at Holland & Hart, during an Oct. 24 event hosted by the American Bar Association (ABA). Driggs,...

Small Parties In CERCLA Suit Oppose Loper Review, Citing NEPA Ruling

Small parties at a New Jersey Superfund site are urging an appeals court to uphold a 2024 settlement allowing them to cash out of future liability, arguing against claims by the major responsible party that the Supreme Court’s 2024 Loper Bright ruling narrowing agency deference expanded courts’ duty to review Superfund settlements. In an Oct. 27 brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in USA v. Alden Leeds, et al. , the Small Parties...

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