Environmental

  • September 23, 2025

    Sullivan & Cromwell Guides Sempra On $10B Subsidiary Sale

    Sempra said Tuesday it has agreed to sell a 45% stake in its infrastructure subsidiary to a consortium led by KKR and Canada's CPP Investments for $10 billion, while separately securing $7 billion of equity financing led by Blackstone to advance a major liquefied natural gas project in Texas.

  • September 22, 2025

    Energy Investor Can Enforce €61M Award Against Bulgaria

    A D.C. federal judge Monday sided with Maltese investor ACF Renewable Energy Ltd. in a suit seeking to enforce a €61 million ($71.86 million) arbitral award against Bulgaria in a dispute over the country's changes to a fixed 20-year rate plan.

  • September 22, 2025

    Trump Admin Says Calif. Emissions Waiver Fight Is DOA

    The Trump administration has told a federal judge that California can't use the courts to override the will of Congress and undo the revocation of Clean Air Act waivers allowing the Golden State to establish its own vehicle emissions standards.

  • September 22, 2025

    EPA Proposes Rolling Back TSCA Risk Evaluation Regs

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday proposed loosening regulations for chemical health risk evaluations, saying the existing set can unnecessarily prolong reviews and stifle new products, but green groups are criticizing the move as a giveaway to industry.

  • September 22, 2025

    NextEra Dodges Antitrust Claims In $1B Power Line Fight

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday dismissed claims that NextEra Energy violated antitrust law in efforts to delay construction of a $1 billion transmission line, saying developer Avangrid Inc. failed to show how NextEra's actions limited competition in New England electricity markets.

  • September 22, 2025

    8th Circ. To Hear Tribal Tesoro Pipeline Row In October

    The Eighth Circuit has set arguments for Oct. 21 in North Dakota tribal members' challenge to a lower court's decision that denied them intervention in a lawsuit against the federal government's right-of-way trespassing claims against Tesoro High Plains Pipeline.

  • September 22, 2025

    Mich. Panel Reaffirms 3M's Win In Challenge To PFAS Rules

    A Michigan appellate panel has again upheld a court decision invalidating Michigan's limits on PFAS chemicals in tap water, finding that 3M Co. may challenge the rules in court without first lodging an administrative complaint with the state's environmental agency.

  • September 22, 2025

    Perkins Coie Adds Former US Treasury Tax Policy Atty In DC

    Perkins Coie LLP has brought on a tax attorney who worked in the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Tax Policy, where he handled work related to laws such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the firm announced Monday. 

  • September 22, 2025

    34-Year DOJ Enviro Atty, Deputy Assistant AG, Joins Bracewell

    A career U.S. Department of Justice environmental lawyer, who most recently was the deputy assistant attorney general of the agency's Environmental and Natural Resources Division, has taken his first role in private practice at Bracewell LLP, where he'll work as a partner, the firm announced Monday.

  • September 22, 2025

    Judge Affirms JV Ineligibility For Navy Small Business Award

    The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that a business failed to cede enough control of a mentor-protégé joint venture to qualify for a U.S. Navy solicitation that sought a small business to provide environmental compliance support services.

  • September 22, 2025

    Feds Oppose Calif. Tribes' Bid To Halt Casino Dispute

    The U.S. government has asked a District of Columbia federal court judge to reject a stay motion filed by three California Native American tribes that are challenging the approval of another tribe's casino-resort project, arguing that the trio has failed to justify pausing the suit before the court rules on the government's request for a Golden State federal court transfer.

  • September 22, 2025

    Judge Rules Revolution Wind Can Restart Wind Farm Work

    A D.C. federal judge gave Revolution Wind the green light to restart work on its billion-dollar wind farm off the Rhode Island coast Monday, halting a stop work order issued by the Trump administration last month, two years after the project got federal approval from the Biden administration.

  • September 19, 2025

    Gov't Must Keep Waiting To Pursue Oil Cleanup Claims

    A Washington federal judge will continue to pause the U.S. government's claims against two defendants in an environmental cleanup case following a 2021 incident in which a derelict fishing vessel ran aground while being towed off the California coast.

  • September 19, 2025

    Foreign Entity Rules Begin To Shape Clean Energy Deals

    The recently enacted federal budget that attaches stricter foreign supply chain and business ownership rules to clean energy tax credits has started to take practical effect, with project developers rewriting agreements to avoid getting snagged in the new regulatory regime.

  • September 19, 2025

    Satellite Biz Bristles At Idea Of Tougher FCC Enviro Oversight

    Satellite companies say the Federal Communications Commission should exempt their operations from review under the National Environmental Policy Act because they are "inherently extraterritorial" projects.

  • September 19, 2025

    Calif. Official Questions FCC Power To Trim Historic Reviews

    The head of California's Office of Historic Preservation has criticized the Federal Communications Commission's decision to weigh regulatory changes that would streamline environmental and historic reviews for wireless broadband infrastructure projects.

  • September 19, 2025

    SoCal Edison Inks Deal To Recover $2B In Woolsey Losses

    Southern California Edison Co. revealed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday that it has reached a proposed settlement that would allow it to recover about $2 billion of its estimated $5.6 billion in losses connected to the 2018 Woolsey Fire.

  • September 19, 2025

    Ill. Panel Upholds Monsanto's Trial Win In Roundup Case

    A juror's letter to a Cook County judge stating that plaintiffs' counsel is "woefully ill prepared" and "taking too long to make their points," and the judge's refusal to give jurors a proximate cause jury instruction, aren't grounds to upend a jury verdict for Bayer subsidiary Monsanto on claims that its herbicide Roundup caused blood cancer, an Illinois appellate panel ruled.

  • September 19, 2025

    DC Circ. Sides With FERC On Puerto Rican Gas Pipeline

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday unanimously rejected challenges to a liquefied natural gas pipeline in Puerto Rico built after hurricanes battered the island's electrical grid, saying the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's decision not to stop the project fell under its unreviewable enforcement discretion.

  • September 19, 2025

    Moldex Says Rival Is Greenwashing With 'Bio-Based' Claims

    Moldex-Metric Inc. is suing rival earplug maker Protective Industrial Products Inc. in California federal court, saying it  is enjoying an unfair advantage by claiming that its products are "eco-friendly" and made with 82% "bio-based" material despite knowing that these claims are false.

  • September 19, 2025

    Builder Not Covered In Conn. Park Dispute, Insurers Tell Court

    Two insurers have no duty to defend or indemnify a developer and two of his companies against a suit accusing them of unlawfully encroaching on and destroying public land because the claims do not trigger their policies' insuring agreements, the insurers told a Connecticut federal court.

  • September 19, 2025

    Groups Decry Bid To Roll Back Ariz. Monument Protections

    Conservation groups are denouncing congressional legislation that, if approved, would nullify protections on two Indigenous national monuments in Arizona that were put in place to prevent new uranium, copper and gold mining of the sites.

  • September 19, 2025

    Michigan Justices To Weigh Enbridge Pipeline Tunnel Dispute

    The Michigan Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear challenges to state regulators' approval of an Enbridge Energy LP plan to construct a miles-long tunnel for a petroleum pipeline underneath a Great Lakes shipping corridor.

  • September 19, 2025

    Rhode Island, Connecticut Fight To Finish Building Wind Farm

    The Rhode Island and Connecticut attorneys general asked a Rhode Island federal judge to allow an energy developer to resume work on an offshore wind farm that is 80% complete, arguing that a delay past Monday could imperil the entire project and thwart states' abilities to meet mandated emissions goals.

  • September 19, 2025

    Berkshire Unit Conserves Land To End NC Runoff Claims

    A Berkshire Hathaway affiliate has struck a settlement with an environmental group in federal court under which it will conserve a parcel of land and take other steps to prevent sediment from reaching creeks near a North Carolina housing development.

Expert Analysis

  • Trump Air Emissions Carveouts Cloud The Regulatory Picture

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    President Donald Trump's new proclamations temporarily exempting key U.S. industries from air toxics standards, issued under a narrow, rarely-used provision of the Clean Air Act, will likely lead to legal challenges and tighter standards in some states, contributing to further regulatory uncertainty, say attorneys at GableGotwals.

  • How Property Insurers Serve As Climate Change Harbingers

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    Thomas Dawson at McDermott discusses the role that U.S. property insurers may play in identifying and assessing climate risk, as well as in financing climate change adaptation projects, in light of global warming and shifting geopolitical realities.

  • Series

    Playing Baseball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing baseball in college, and now Wiffle ball in a local league, has taught me that teamwork, mental endurance and emotional intelligence are not only important to success in the sport, but also to success as a trial attorney, says Kevan Dorsey at Swift Currie.

  • Managing Risks As State AGs Seek To Fill Enforcement Gap

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    Given an unprecedented surge in state attorney general activity resulting from significant shifts in federal enforcement priorities, companies must consider tailored strategies for navigating the ever-evolving risk landscape, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • A Deep Dive Into 14 Nixed Gensler-Era SEC Rule Proposals

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month formally withdrew 14 notices of proposed rulemaking, including several significant and widely criticized proposals that had been issued under former Chair Gary Gensler's leadership, signaling a clear and definitive shift away from the previous administration, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Skillful Persuasion

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    In many ways, law school teaches us how to argue, but when the ultimate goal is to get your client what they want, being persuasive through preparation and humility is the more likely key to success, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • A Look At Trump 2.0 Antitrust Enforcement So Far

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    The first six months of President Donald Trump's second administration were marked by aggressive antitrust enforcement tempered by traditional structural remedies for mergers, but other unprecedented actions, like the firing of Federal Trade Commission Democrats, will likely stoke heated discussion ahead, says Richard Dagen at Axinn.

  • Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss

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    Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Tips For Cos. From California Climate Reporting FAQ

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    New guidance from the California Air Resources Board on how businesses must implement the state's sweeping climate reporting requirements should help companies assess their exposure, understand their disclosure obligations and begin documenting good-faith compliance efforts, says Thierry Montoya at Frost Brown.

  • What Calif. Insurance Ruling Means For Smoke Damage Limits

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    As California continues to grapple with an increasing number of wildfire claims, a state court's recent Aliff v. California FAIR Plan decision serves as a clear directive to insurers that policy language that narrows the scope of fire coverage below the California Insurance Code's minimum standards is impermissible, say attorneys at Wood Smith.

  • The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine

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    The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Series

    Playing Mah-Jongg Makes Me A Better Mediator

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    Mah-jongg rewards patience, pattern recognition, adaptability and keen observation, all skills that are invaluable to my role as a mediator, and to all mediating parties, says Marina Corodemus.

  • Calif. Air Waivers Fight Fuels Automakers', States' Uncertainty

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    The unprecedented attempt by Congress and the Trump administration to kill the Clean Air Act waivers supporting California's vehicle emissions standards will eventually end up in the U.S. Supreme Court — but meanwhile, vehicle manufacturers, and states following California's standards, are left in limbo, says John Watson at Spencer Fane.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Navigating Client Trauma

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    Law schools don't train students to handle repeated exposure to clients' traumatic experiences, but for litigators practicing in areas like civil rights and personal injury, success depends on the ability to view cases clinically and to recognize when you may need to seek help, says Katie Bennett at Robins Kaplan.

  • Lawsuit, Exec Orders Should Boost Small Modular Reactors

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    A lawsuit in Texas federal court and a set of new executive orders from the White House may finally push the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow for accelerated deployment of small modular reactors — a technology that could change the country's energy future, says Aleksey Shtivelman at Shutts & Bowen.

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