Environmental Law Monitor

LATEST INSIGHTS

November 12, 2026 • Emerging Issues, Environmental Law Monitor, EPA

Protecting Public Health Through Innovation: EPA Showcases Emerging Technologies for Identifying Lead Service Lines in First Public Demonstration

The EPA on Nov. 10 held its first public demonstration of emerging technologies designed to combat lead pipe exposure. The event took place at the agency’s Lead Service Line Identification Test Bed in Edison, N.J., which opened in 2025 and features six pipe sections built to evaluate different performance attributes. Ultimately, these technologies aim to …

November 12, 2026 • Emerging Issues, Environmental Law Monitor

Pause to Protect: Virginia Weighs a Moratorium on New Data Centers

This past Wednesday, a coalition of more than a dozen environmental groups gathered in the parking lot of the Hanover Humane Society in Ashland, Va., to demand a statewide halt to new data center construction in the Commonwealth. Their backdrop was pointed: a few hundred feet away a hyperscale data center was under construction. That …

November 5, 2026 • Clean Water Act, Environmental Law Monitor, NEPA

What the American Affordability & Jobs Act Could Mean for Federal Environmental Laws

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S.5653) was introduced last month, marking an ambitious bipartisan attempt to expedite the federal permitting process by reworking the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act, among others. In exchange, however, the bill would narrow occasions for full environmental …

November 5, 2026 • Environmental Law Monitor, Groundwater Monitoring, PFAS

Wisconsin Sets Its First PFAS Groundwater Standards: What Regulated Parties Should Expect

Wisconsin now has enforceable groundwater limits for “forever chemicals.” On October 28, the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board (NRB) voted unanimously to adopt Board Order DG-02-25, which amends chapter NR 140 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code to add numeric standards for six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Gov. Tony Evers signed the rule the same day …

October 29, 2026 • Environmental Law Monitor, EPA, PFAS

EPA Unveils First Agencywide PFAS TECH Strategy: What Industry, Utilities & Litigants Should Know

The Environmental Protection Agency on Oct. 26 launched its first agencywide PFAS Technology, Evaluation, Coordination, and Harmonization (PFAS TECH) strategy, which it describes as an effort to “catapult technology innovation on PFAS” while giving communities practical tools, funding, and technical assistance for local PFAS problems. EPA has committed to carrying out the strategy actions across …

Hand with a spatula renovating the paint.

October 29, 2026 • Environmental Law Monitor, EPA, Toxic Substances

Stripped Down: 5th Circuit Vacates EPA’s Methylene Chloride Rule, Redraws the Boundaries of TSCA Section 6

Readers of the Environmental Law Monitor have followed methylene chloride (MC), the solvent best known for its use in paint stripping, through nearly every stage of its modern regulatory life. In “Partially Stripped,” we examined EPA’s decision to retreat from a proposed complete ban and instead prohibit only consumer paint-stripper uses. In “9th Circuit: EPA’s …

Low angle view of silver colored transport pipelines at blue sky.

October 22, 2026 • Environmental Law Monitor, Regulations

Scrutiny or Speed? FERC’s Balancing Act on Gas Infrastructure Permitting

On October 15, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued two proposals aimed at speeding up approvals of natural gas infrastructure projects by narrowing the scope of its environmental reviews. FERC’s intention is to streamline agency reviews to help ensure that necessary pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities are both approved and built …

October 15, 2026 • Environmental Law Monitor, EPA, Regulations

Super Intelligence: The Future of Environmental Regulation?

The Environmental Protection Agency on Oct. 5 published its final FY 2027 Evidence Plan, outlining how the agency will leverage emerging technology to modernize its regulatory framework. Authorized by the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, the plan notably replaces the term “Artificial Intelligence” from its initial draft with “Super Intelligence” (SI), which is …

Silhouette of engineer and construction team working safely on scaffolding on high rise building.

October 15, 2026 • Environmental Law Monitor, NEPA

The Bipartisan American Affordability & Jobs Act: What Environmental Practitioners Need to Know

After years of failed attempts, senators from both political parties finally appear on the brink of comprehensive permitting reform meant to speed up permitting reviews for new energy and infrastructure projects. Those projects currently face delays that run for years, while demand for electricity and other energy keeps growing exponentially. On September 30, just before …

October 8, 2026 • Environmental Law Monitor, EPA, Litigation

The First Post-Preemption Roundup Trial Puts EPA’s Glyphosate Science Front and Center

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 25 decided Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, 146 S. Ct. 2001 (2026), holding that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), 7 U.S.C. § 136v(b), expressly preempts a state-law failure-to-warn claim that would require a cancer warning on a pesticide label that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved …