Your Guide to Emerging Issues in Environmental Regulation and Litigation.
Earlier this summer, as part of the state’s annual budget deal, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that alters how the existing California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) would apply to certain housing development projects in the Golden State. A landmark law signed in 1970 by then-governor Ronald Reagan, the CEQA was intended to reduce environmental … Continued
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Aug. 21 ordered the federal government to refrain from sending additional detainees to the detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” and to begin transferring detainees to other facilities within 60 days. The court further ordered that once all detainees are transferred, the facility must be dismantled, including the removal of all fencing, lighting, and generators. The court sided with tribal … Continued
On August 18, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued its long-awaited decision in Sommerville v. Union Carbide Corp., reversing the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the plant owner defendants. In the case, the lead plaintiff, on her own … Continued
On July 25, the District Court for the Northern District of New York in Mulhern Gas Co. v. Mosely ruled that New York has the power to enact the All-Electric Building Act (AEBA). The decision clears the way for the AEBA to take effect in 2026, making New York the first state to require (most) … Continued
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams on Aug. 7 issued a temporary restraining order to pause construction on the controversial detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” for two weeks pending argument on the underlying preliminary injunction action. Plaintiffs – which include the environmental non-profit groups, Friends of the Everglades, Inc. and the Center for Biological Diversity … Continued
While shifting political winds don’t literally blow through the trees, their force and impact can cause environmental policy to lurch back and forth. For instance, in 2020, during the final quarter of the first Trump administration, the White House Counsel on Environmental Quality (CEQ) took steps to change the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by … Continued
California – as part of effort to reduce the environmental impact of maritime shipping, particularly within vulnerable port-side communities – has implemented one of the most ambitious port-emission control programs to date. California’s At-Berth Regulation (ABR), implemented in 2007, is a key environmental policy created to reduce air pollution from nonvehicular sources. Since 2014, the … Continued
Following years of heightened concern about the dangers of exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO), increased regulatory oversight, and a steady hum of litigation, in 2025 it seems like things might be changing for the beleaguered industry dependent upon this highly effective but potentially cancer-causing sterilizing gas. With a new administration in the White House, a U.S. … Continued
In a unanimous decision on July 23, 2025, the fifteen judges on the United Nations’ International Court of Justice (“ICJ”), also known as the “World Court,” concluded that the production and consumption of fossil fuels “may constitute an internationally wrongful act attributable to that state.” The opinion also stated that limiting global warming to 1.5C … Continued
The Environmental Protection Agency announced July 18 it would continue workforce reductions through the elimination of its Office of Research and Development, which provides the independent scientific research that underpins nearly all the agency’s policies and regulations. For decades, the science office has analyzed a multitude of risks, including the impacts of hazardous chemicals, hydraulic … Continued