President Biden was officially sworn in on January 20th and has taken swift action to reverse or pause many of the policies of the Trump Administration and set a new course. Since our update in November, President Biden also finalized his choices for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and leaders of other key agencies, including the Department of Interior (DOI) and the Department of Energy (DOE), who, if confirmed, will set the tone for future actions that broadly address environmental and climate issues.
As companies increase their environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting and statements in response to market and shareholder demands, plaintiffs have pursued with growing success legal challenges to company claims and disclosures related to ESG performance. Similarly, inventive theories are being put forward to directly attack companies for alleged ESG-related performance and…
On June 4, 2020, President Trump signed a new Executive Order (“EO”) aimed at accelerating the initiation and completion of infrastructure projects to spur on the United States’ economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.1 At the heart of this latest EO is a mandate to expedite required environmental reviews for…
Earlier this week, we provided guidance on the development of an “Environmental Action Plan” to address potential environmental regulatory and compliance challenges arising from the COVID-19 crisis. Our recommendations included – in the context of limited or unavailable EHS staff or resources and in response to plant shutdown orders –…
The ever-evolving COVID-19 crisis continues to pose significant challenges for industrial enterprises across the United States. Until very recently, the engines of industry continued to hum while the broader world wrestled with this unprecedented public health crisis. However, with growing constituencies across the public and private sector calling for more…
On December 10, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued its long-awaited revisions to the definition of solid waste rule (“Final DSW Rule”) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”). The Final DSW Rule scales back certain important RCRA recycling exemptions that were first promulgated as part of…