Perspectives on Environmental

ArentFox Schiff has been recognized with 53 top rankings in the 2023 edition of US News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms.”

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.

In a recent US EPA letter issued to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) and the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), the Biden Administration deploys its plans to use the “whole of government” to address what it believes are long-standing civil concerns.

As we move toward two full years of the Biden Administration, we can see the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) environmental justice (EJ) efforts move from the creation of new offices and guidance materials toward seeing EJ-focused changes occurring in EPA’s efforts.

On October 14, 2022, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed changes to its New Source Review (NSR) regulations that would expand the number of projects that trigger NSR permitting at existing facilities by requiring that all major stationary sources consider fugitive emissions.

On Aug. 30, in Environment Texas Citizen Lobby Inc. v. ExxonMobil Corp., a split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas’ $14.25 million Clean Air Act penalty against a petroleum company that had been found liable for

Partner Francis Lyons, a former US Department of Justice environmental enforcement attorney and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regional administrator, was quoted on the EPA’s launch of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR).

Michael Showalter and his co-host will lead a panel discussion on citizen suits under environmental laws, on October 4, 2022.

The first Monday of October means the Supreme Court begins to hear cases for the new term. As we promised at the end of last term, below we summarize cases the Court could address, including issues involving the federal Clean Water Act; standing and the appropriateness of executive action.

Partner Jane E. Montgomery was quoted on how the Inflation Reduction Act’s 30% energy storage tax credit could bolster large-scale battery manufacturers’ appeal to investors in renewable energy technology.

Citizen suits begin with private parties sending “notice letters” to potential defendants apprising them that, if a specified action isn’t done within a certain period, litigation will be filed. A primary purpose of these letters is to allow parties to fix issues outlined in the letters.

Standing is a major issue in nearly all environmental citizen suit cases. A split panel of the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court’s award of a $14.25 million Clean Air Act (CAA) penalty against a petroleum company which had been found liable for “thousands.”

Partner J. Michael Showalter was quoted on the ways low-income communities could access renewable and clean energy as a result of tax credits, increased federal funding, and other benefits from the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act.

The Biden Administration has long been clear that it believes environmental justice (EJ) issues should be at the forefront of federal environmental law.

On August 26, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a pre-publication version of its proposal to designate two of the most widely used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.

Join Matthew Nolan for the 12th SIPS Symposium on Sustainable Development.

Partner Sarah A. W. Fitts, International Bar Association Power Law Committee co-chair, was quoted on anticipated energy shortages and rising costs throughout Europe.

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 communities.

An important step in the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Strategic Roadmap for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) was completed on August 12 when the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced the completion of its review of an EPA proposal to designate two PFAS as hazardous.

ArentFox Schiff is pleased to announce that 121 attorneys have been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America 2023, with an additional six attorneys highlighted as “Lawyers of the Year” and 40 attorneys listed as “Ones to Watch.”

Consent decrees play a major role in environmental litigation. This week, Maine People’s Alliance v. Holtrachem Manufacturing Company, one of the nation’s longest-running cases under the RCRA citizen suit provisions, has essentially ended with a Maine district court’s entry of a consent decree.

US Senate Democrats Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin reached a compromise on the fiscal year 2022 budget reconciliation that includes $369 billion in new spending to spur clean energy and technology over the next decade. The bump in spending would be off-set by corporate tax changes.

Enforcement under the major federal environmental statutes is often - but not always - filed by state or federal regulators.

Partner Jane Montgomery was quoted on the US Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA that ruled the Clean Air Act (CAA) doesn’t have clear authority to address carbon emissions reduction.