Your Guide to Emerging Issues in Environmental Regulation and Litigation.
As cryptocurrency has increased its notoriety in the US, so has its demands on the US electrical grid. Indeed, the US is witnessing a constantly proliferating number of cryptomining facilities, which are large spaces – often former factories or defunct power plants – filled with computers using large amounts of electricity to “mine” crypto by …
In an update to the Environmental Law Monitor’s continuing coverage of California’s historic climate disclosure laws, California State Sen. Scott Weiner put forth on August 13 proposals to Senate Bill 219 that would delay the effective date of the Golden State’s 2023 emissions and climate-related financial risk corporate disclosure laws. As our readers may remember, …
On September 13, plaintiffs in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio action pending against Norfolk Southern arising out of last year’s train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine filed a motion seeking final approval of a $600 million settlement. The settlement includes a $162 million attorneys’ fees payment. The …
Recently, as part of the Joint Subcommittee on Environment, Innovation, and Public Health, the PFAS Strategy Team of the National Science and Technology Council released a report titled the “Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Federal Research and Development Strategic Plan.” The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is the principal means by which the executive …
On August 22, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana permanently blocked the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice from implement Civil Rights Act Title VI “disparate impact” regulations within the state of Louisiana. Disparate impact assessments are typically undertaken by the federal government when determining harms …
On August 26, Sage Geosystems announced an agreement to supply Meta with 150 MW of geothermal power. Sage will use its proprietary Geopressured Geothermal System (GGS) to provide carbon-free power for Meta’s data centers. This makes Meta the latest tech giant to invest in geothermal energy. In June 2024, Google negotiated a similar deal with …
Late last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in New Jersey Conversation Foundation, et al. v. FERC, unanimously vacated the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of the Transcontinental (Transco) Gas Pipe Line Company Regional Energy Access Expansion Project. The roughly $950 million gas pipeline project involves the construction …
On August 6, the Environmental Protection Agency issued an Emergency Order directing the suspension of all registrations issued under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for pesticide products containing the active ingredient dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA), also marketed under the trade name Dacthal. According to EPA, this is the “first time in almost 40 …
Opportunity knocks for water treatment entities to provide their input on new regulations about to be rolled out by EPA that could either boost or harm their businesses. The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires EPA to establish a panel, including small businesses that may be economically impacted before any revisions to regulations become effective. But beware, …
Through the modern industrial age, there’s always been a push-and-pull between the utility of our innovations and the risks they often inadvertently create. In the 70’s, we discovered the synthetic pesticide that was so effectively combating typhus and malaria, DDT, was causing breast cancer and impairing neurological development in babies. In the 80’s and 90’s, …