Your Guide to Emerging Issues in Environmental Regulation and Litigation.
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 …
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 …
A three-judge appellate panel on Jan. 5 affirmed New Jersey’s environmental justice rules challenged by various industry and labor groups. Ultimately, the panel concluded that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) acted within its authority by adopting the legislature’s environmental justice rules (also known as the EJRules). In particular, the panel concluded that …
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recently enacted budget bill for 2025-2026 includes several important changes to the New York State Superfund program. The Superfund was created to help enforce state hazardous waste regulations and to investigate and remediate contaminated sites. Overall, the amendments clarify the program and strengthen the state’s ability to enforce hazardous waste laws. Separately, …
While the Trump administration has spent 2025 slamming the brakes on U.S. expansion of renewable energy by defunding solar and wind projects, Americans have seen their electricity costs skyrocket by more than an average of 30 percent, a trend not expected to abate any time soon. The rapid expansion of cryptocurrency mining facilities and artificial …
As we reflect on environmental stewardship this week, the accelerating loss of biodiversity remains one of the most critical challenges facing our planet. Healthy ecosystems provide essential services – clean air and water, pollination, climate regulation, and more – underpinning human well-being and economic stability. While international efforts aim to address this crisis, action within …
On March 24, in Kelsey Cascadia Rose Juliana et al. v. United States of America et al., the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a petition to hear an appeal from Our Children’s Trust from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision concluding that a lawsuit from youths alleging that current federal energy policies harm their future …
In a landmark decision, a North Dakota jury has ordered Greenpeace to pay over $660 million in damages to Energy Transfer, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). This verdict stems from Greenpeace’s involvement in the 2016-2017 protests against the pipeline’s construction near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Energy Transfer accused Greenpeace of defamation, …
Ask any New Yorker what their top five complaints are about the city and either “traffic” or “gridlock” (or both) are all but certain to be represented. Indeed, you don’t get to be called “the Business Capital of the World” without piling enough people on to the Island of Manhattan to get that business done, …
Over the last six years, our firm has written extensively about 1,4-Dioxane, from U.S. EPA’s proclamations to state laws and regulations, litigation, and distinctions between federal and state perspectives. (see compilation of blog posts here.) Today we are providing an update on the EPA’s final revised Unreasonable Risk Determination for 1,4-Dioxane, which includes new air …