On Sept. 5, 2025, the D.C. Circuit reversed EPA’s 2023 rule rescinding the “startup, shutdown and malfunction” (SSM) affirmative defense under the Title V permitting program. The decision carries implications for Title V programs nationwide and for stationary source regulations more broadly.
Continue Reading DC Circuit Reinstates Title V Emergency Affirmative Defense
Several federal agencies have released modified National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations.
Continue Reading Federal Agencies Roll Out New NEPA Regulations
Montana is among the states with a constitutional provision recognizing a right to environmental quality, in its case to a “clean and healthful environment.” Mont. Const. art. II, § 3.
Continue Reading Montana Supreme Court Holds that State Constitution Protects Youth Plaintiffs’ Right to Protection from Climate Change
Opinions of the new Texas Business Court, a statewide, specialized trial court created to resolve certain complex business disputes, are now available online.
The voluntary carbon markets have expanded rapidly recently, capturing the attention of entrepreneurs, corporate entities, and investors. Today, however, like many burgeoning markets, the voluntary carbon markets are susceptible to
Continue Reading Voluntary Carbon Markets: A New Area of Enforcement
The federal Superfund statute allows a private person to recover “necessary costs of response incurred” by that person consistently with the governing regulation, the national contingency plan. A recent appellate
Continue Reading What Does It Take to ‘Incur’ a Cleanup Cost Under CERCLA?
On July 30, 2024, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Jersey Conservation Foundation, et al. v. FERC vacated FERC’s order approving Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company (Transco)’s Regional
Continue Reading DC Circuit Remands and Vacates FERC’s Order Approving the Transco Project
In the recent case of Fresh Air for the Eastside, Inc. v. State of New York (decided July 26, 2024), the plaintiffs sought to compel enforcement of the state’s newly
Continue Reading Clarifying the Scope of New York’s Green Amendment
Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that environmental groups could intervene in litigation to use the Environmental Rights Amendment of the Pennsylvania Constitution to support a regulation even though
Continue Reading Intervention and the Environmental Rights Amendment
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Securities & Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, No. 22-859 (U.S. June 27, 2024), holding that the SEC cannot assess civil penalties for securities
Continue Reading Jury Trials for Environmental Enforcement: What Now After SEC v. Jarkesy?