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Justice Department Issues First-Ever Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy Report
On October 13, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) released its Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy Report (Report). The Report outlines what OEJ considers to be its environmental justice successes over the past year since OEJ’s creation, as well as its enforcement strategy moving forward. Regarding successes, the Report highlights the Civil…
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U.S. EPA Finalized PFAS Reporting Rule Requires Submittal of 12 Years of PFAS Data
On September 28, 2023, U.S. EPA released its final reporting rule that will require manufacturers (and importers) of PFAS and PFAS-containing articles to submit detailed PFAS-information going back as far as 2011. Putting aside the difficulties posed by a reporting rule with a 12-year look-back, the final rule also adopts a structure-based PFAS definition. Specifically, rather than…
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EPA narrows “Waters of the United States” definition following Sackett ruling
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers recently announced a revised and final rule amending the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) following the Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA that invalidated the agencies’ previous definition. The revised rule took effect immediately upon its publication in the Federal Register on September 8. The definition of…
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Proposed NEPA Revisions Seek to Ingrain Environmental Justice into Permitting Decisions
The Council on Environmental Quality recently published the “Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule,” the second in a two-phase approach to revising National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementation regulations. An accompanying White House Fact Sheet highlights the proposal’s objectives to accelerate environmental reviews, encourage community engagement, accelerate clean energy advancements, strengthen energy security, and advance environmental justice. From an environmental…
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EPA Drops First Set of UCMR 5 Data
U.S. EPA released the first set of data collected by public water systems (PWS) pursuant to the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5). UCMR 5 required PWS serving more than 10,000 customers to sample for 29 specific per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), and hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer…
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Montana State Court Sides with Youth Plaintiffs in Unique Climate Change Lawsuit
On August 14, 2023, a Montana state court found that a Montana environmental review statute (the Montana Environmental Policy Act or MEPA) that limited (and as amended in May 2023, precluded) consideration of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and corresponding impacts of those emissions on the climate in connection with environmental reviews was violative of Article…
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New EPA Rule Removes Emergency Defense Waiver in Title V Air Permits
On July 21, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency published a final rule eliminating an affirmative defense for Clean Air Act permit emissions violations caused by “emergency” circumstances. “Major sources” (i.e. sources with actual or potential emissions above certain emission thresholds) are required under Title V of the Clean Air Act to obtain operating permits. When…
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Biden Administration Seeks Public Comment on Expanding Environmental Justice Initiatives to Ocean-Related Activities
On June 8, 2023, the Council on Environmental Quality, on behalf of the Ocean Policy Committee (OPC), published a Federal Register request for information seeking public input on the development of a new “Ocean Justice Strategy.” The OPC is a Congressionally mandated interagency body tasked with coordinating ocean science, technology and management policy across Federal…
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Avoiding Default and Streamlining NEPA—Can the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 Accomplish Both Objectives?
Hiding in plain sight in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA)–which is intended to extend the nation’s debt limit into 2025 in order to avoid a federal default–are provisions that seek to amend the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in over 40 years. Although the FRA’s provisions greenlighting the federal…
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Supreme Court Narrows Scope of Clean Water Act in Landmark Sackett Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has issued its opinion in the landmark Clean Water Act (“CWA”) case of Sackett v. EPA, No. 21-454 (May 25, 2023). This decision delivers a significant change in terms of the reach and jurisdiction of the CWA, and supplies some harsh critiques between the Justices that all agreed in the judgement…
