Your Guide to Emerging Issues in Environmental Regulation and Litigation.
Earlier this year, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the Protecting Against Forever Chemicals Act, sponsored by Senators Linda Greenstein and Bob Smith. The Act seeks to address intentionally added perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS) in consumer products; it also funds mandated PFAS-related research. Beginning two years after the Act’s effective, January 12, 2026, the …
In August 2024, the NJDEP introduced the Resilient Environments and Landscapes (REAL) rule amendment package as part of the Protecting Against Climate Threats (NJPACT) initiative. These rules are meant to reform New Jersey’s environmental land-use regulations by including current and projected climate-change impacts, such as sea-level rise, chronic flooding, and extreme weather, into all major …
On February 24, 2026, the Department of the Interior published its final rule in the Federal Register, overhauling the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Rule adopts the interim final rule published on July 3, 2025, with minor changes. NEPA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970 and requires …
A little over a month ago, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) approved permits for four new dual-fuel combustion turbines to be used at Georgia Power’s Plant Bowen, a huge coal-fired facility located just a few dozen miles northwest of Atlanta. In response, earlier this week, environmental groups promptly filed a lawsuit (see the petition …
The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to determine whether a Colorado climate tort claim against Exxon Mobil Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc. can proceed in state court, a decision that may determine whether state efforts to impose climate liability are federally preempted. The city and county of Boulder, Colo. filed suit against Exxon and Suncor …
The Environmental Protection Agency recently issued a press release on its efforts over the last year regarding PFAS contamination, noting it “represents just the beginning of the Trump Administration’s fight against the risks of PFAS contamination.” Some of the work the agency highlighted included “better testing and detection, direct community support, enforcement, clear public education, commonsense …
In a February 5, 2026 filing before the D.C. Circuit, a coalition of industry groups strongly endorsed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s method for determining when upgrades at industrial facilities must undergo federal air‑quality review. The dispute centers on the EPA’s “Project Emissions Accounting” (PEA) approach under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR) …
Data centers are specialized facilities that house the infrastructure needed to run an organization’s computers, servers, network equipment, data storage drives, and other hardware essential for processing, storing, and distributing large amounts of data. Data centers are not new; they arose with the invention of the first general purpose computers. However, in recent years, fueled …
The Environmental Protection Agency has taken measures to roll back the “good neighbor” rule, which limits smokestack emissions affecting downwind areas in neighboring states under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The rule is intended to address transboundary ozone pollution that can exacerbate health hazards by requiring each state to implement regulations meant to reduce emissions …
On January 23, 2026, in a case involving an insurance coverage dispute, the Illinois Supreme Court answered a question certified by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals about whether and, to what extent, a permit or regulation authorizing emissions is relevant to the application of a pollution exclusion contained in a standard-form commercial general liability …