Environmental

  • April 01, 2026

    Feds Can't Block Calif. Law Banning New Drilling Near Homes

    A California federal judge has refused to block enforcement of a California statute banning new fossil fuel development within 3,200 feet of homes and schools, ruling the U.S. government failed to show the statute conflicts with federal law since it limits environmental emission impacts and "arguably furthers federal objectives."

  • April 01, 2026

    17 State AGs Challenge EPA's Repeal Of Coal Plant Air Regs

    Attorneys general from Illinois and 16 other states urged the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday to undo the Trump administration's recent rollback of Biden-era caps on mercury and other toxins in air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants, warning the loosened standards threaten public health and the environment.   

  • April 01, 2026

    Mich. Says ICE Illegally Skipped Enviro Review For Warehouse

    Michigan and one of its cities asked a federal court Wednesday to temporarily block U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from converting a warehouse into a detention center, arguing the federal government didn't notify local officials about the project and didn't conduct required environmental reviews.

  • April 01, 2026

    California Tribes Say Feds Skirted Casino Land Trust Rules

    Two California tribes and a nonprofit are urging a district judge to deny the Interior Department's bid for summary judgment in their challenge to a decision to place 221 acres of indigenous territory into trust for the development of a resort and casino, saying the agency blatantly violated federal law "at every turn."

  • April 01, 2026

    Archer Builds Environmental Team With Partner From Wilentz

    Archer & Greiner PC is expanding its environmental practice by adding to its Hackensack, New Jersey, office a partner from Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer PA who is bringing over 20 years of experience in a range of transactional and regulatory matters.

  • March 31, 2026

    'Best Judicial System In The World': Alsup Reflects On Career

    Before taking inactive status late last year, U.S. District Judge William H. Alsup presided over historic litigation in California's Northern District for 26 years, arriving at his San Francisco chambers every weekday before dawn to prepare for the day's work.

  • March 31, 2026

    Chubb Investor Can't Add Climate Proposal In Proxy Material

    A D.C. federal judge declined to grant a preliminary injunction to a shareholder advocacy group suing Chubb for excluding its climate-related proposal from Chubb's yearly proxy materials, ruling Tuesday it hasn't shown the proposal falls outside U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations exempting proposals involving issues related to a company's ordinary business operations.

  • March 31, 2026

    Wash. Creates Electric Transmission Authority With New Law

    Washington passed a law on Monday forming a state electric transmission authority to supercharge efforts to build out the Evergreen State's power grid through public-private partnerships and other initiatives, with a focus on shifting to renewable energy sources to meet the state's decarbonization goals. 

  • March 31, 2026

    Ariz. Judge Keeps Oak Flat Stay Pending 9th Circ. Rehearing

    An Arizona federal judge has agreed with Apache tribal members and environmental groups that a stay should remain in place as they await a Ninth Circuit decision on their legal fight to block the transfer of 2,500 acres to a copper mining company.

  • March 31, 2026

    Verizon Can't Enforce Tower Lease, Judge Says

    Verizon Wireless did not provide the North Carolina landowner it signed a cell tower equipment lease with what it had promised in the bargain, and therefore the lease is not valid, a North Carolina federal court has ruled.

  • March 31, 2026

    'Construction Has To Stop!': Judge Blocks Trump's Ballroom

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge Tuesday granted a historical preservation nonprofit's request for a preliminary injunction halting President Donald Trump's plans to turn the White House's East Wing into an "enormous" 89,000-square-foot ballroom, saying "unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!"

  • March 31, 2026

    Judge Sides With Navy In Hunters Point Cleanup Challenge

    An environmental justice group failed to show that the U.S. Navy's remediation plan for the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund site is arbitrary and capricious despite an analysis showing cancer risks exceeded the acceptable range, a California federal judge ruled.

  • March 31, 2026

    'God Squad' Exempts Gulf Drillers From Species Protections

    A federal committee with the power to waive Endangered Species Act protections convened for the first time in 34 years on Tuesday and granted an exemption for oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico.

  • March 31, 2026

    Transpo Tracker: Congestion Pricing Survives, EV Rule At Risk

    In our inaugural Law360 Transportation Tracker, a New York district court walloped the Trump administration's effort to cancel Manhattan's congestion pricing, the federal government continued its assault on California's vehicle emissions regulations, and Boeing investors scored class certification in 737 Max-related securities fraud litigation.

  • March 31, 2026

    Colo. Judge OKs $2.5M Damages In Metal Workers' Wage Suit

    The owner of a now-defunct metal fabrication and construction company will have to shell out $2.5 million in damages in a case seeking unpaid wages, a Colorado federal judge has ruled, agreeing with a magistrate judge's recommendation to enter default judgment but disagreeing that theft damages were not necessary.

  • March 31, 2026

    Public Health Groups Challenge EPA's Mercury Limits Repeal

    The American Academy of Pediatrics and more than a dozen environmental and public health groups are calling on the D.C. Circuit to vacate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's repeal of Biden-era limits on mercury and air toxins, saying the move will jeopardize children's health across the country.

  • March 31, 2026

    11th Circ. Won't Revisit Order Keeping Migrant Facility Open

    The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday denied a request from environmental nonprofits to allow a lower court's order halting operations of a Florida immigrant detention facility, saying in a split decision that new issues were improperly raised for the first time. 

  • March 31, 2026

    Feds Ask For Early Win In Hookless Cactus FOIA Suit

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior have asked a federal judge for an early win in a conservation nonprofit's suit over withheld records about a proposed rule to remove the Colorado hookless cactus from the endangered species list.

  • March 30, 2026

    Trump, Biden Changes To Endangered Species Regs Vacated

    A California federal judge on Monday threw out Endangered Species Act regulation changes from the first Trump administration and Biden administration for being unlawful, saying the regulations contradicted the animal and habitat conservation law, including by paring back federal agency duties and narrowing the scope of the law's protection.

  • March 30, 2026

    Forest Service Beats Suit Over Timber Targets

    A D.C. federal judge on Monday ruled against environmental groups challenging the U.S. Forest Service's timber harvesting program, holding that annual timber targets aren't discrete agency actions for purposes of judicial review, and that the government sufficiently assessed the environmental impact of logging projects.

  • March 30, 2026

    Product Liability Q1 Regulatory Roundup

    In the first three months of 2026, executive orders and other regulatory actions by the Trump administration have taken on products with "Made in America" labeling, called for the increased manufacture of the herbicide ingredient glyphosate, and addressed what e-cigarette flavors could receive the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval, among others.

  • March 30, 2026

    Kimberly-Clark Slips Conn. Town's 'Speculative' PFAS Claims

    A proposed class action claiming Kimberly-Clark Corp. polluted a Connecticut town's water and soil with toxic "forever chemicals" failed to allege plausible facts tying the contamination or any injuries to the paper goods maker, relying instead on assumptions and guesswork, a federal judge has ruled in dismissing the case.

  • March 30, 2026

    Nearby Polluters Must Face Gowanus Canal Cleanup Suit

    A New York federal judge on Sunday declined to dismiss a lawsuit brought by National Grid seeking to force 40 other parties accused of polluting Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal to pay their share of the Superfund cleanup costs.

  • March 30, 2026

    Fla. Gov. OKs Land Use Bill Despite Miami Beach Resort Fight

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that imposes a variety of preemptions over local governments' land use review powers, potentially teeing up a fight with Miami Beach over a contentious proposal that could pave the way for a resort water park project that faces steep opposition. 

  • March 30, 2026

    BNSF Says 9th Circ. Opinion Nixes Montana Asbestos Case

    BNSF Railway Co. asked a Montana federal court Monday to throw out a lawsuit alleging it let dust from asbestos-containing vermiculite accumulate at its rail yard in Libby, Montana, arguing that a recent Ninth Circuit case showed the claims are preempted by federal law and blocked by the common carrier exception.

Expert Analysis

  • State Of Insurance: Q3 Notes From Illinois

    Author Photo

    Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey discusses notable developments in Illinois insurance law from the last quarter including a state appellate court's weighing in on the scope of appraisal, a pending certified question in the Illinois Supreme Court from the Seventh Circuit on the applicability of pollution exclusions to permitted emissions, and more.

  • Key Lessons From Youths' Suit Against Trump Energy Orders

    Author Photo

    A Montana federal court's recent decision in Lighthiser v. Trump, dismissing a challenge by a group of young plaintiffs to President Donald Trump's executive orders promoting fossil fuels, indicates that future climate litigants must anchor their suits in discrete, final agency actions and statutory text, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

    Author Photo

    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • What EPA's Continued Defense Of PFAS Rule Means For Cos.

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent decision to continue defending a Biden-era rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as Superfund hazards may provide the EPA with significant authority over national PFAS cleanup policy — and spur further litigation by both government and private parties, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

    Author Photo

    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • How Gov't Reversals Are Flummoxing Renewable Developers

    Author Photo

    The Trump administration has reversed numerous environmental and energy policies, some of which have then been reinstated by the courts, making it difficult for renewable energy project developers to navigate the current regulatory environment, says John Watson at Spencer Fane.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

    Author Photo

    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Documentation, Overrides, Eligibility

    Author Photo

    Recent decisions by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Government Accountability Office illustrate the importance of contemporaneous documentation in proposal evaluations, the standards for an agency’s override of a Competition in Contracting Act stay, and the regulatory requirements for small business joint ventures, says Cody Fisher at MoFo.

  • Importers Face Uncertainty As Court Stays Solar Tariff Ruling

    Author Photo

    The overturning of a Commerce Department rule that allowed duty-free entry of solar cells between 2022 and 2024, now on appeal to the Federal Circuit, means the landscape for imported solar cells and modules is still in flux, while U.S. producers continue to rely on imports, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: 3 Tips On Finding The Right Job

    Author Photo

    After 23 years as a state and federal prosecutor, when I contemplated moving to a law firm, practicing solo or going in-house, I found there's a critical first step — deep self-reflection on what you truly want to do and where your strengths lie, says Rachael Jones at McKool Smith.

  • Civil Maritime Nuclear Sector Poised For Growth, Challenges

    Author Photo

    The maritime industry now stands on the verge of a nuclear-powered renaissance, with the need for clean energy, resilient power generation and decarbonized logistics driving demand for commercial maritime nuclear technology — but these developments will raise significant new legal, regulatory and technical questions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

  • Using The GHG Protocol For California Climate Reporting

    Author Photo

    With the California Air Resources Board's recent announcement that entities subject to the state's climate disclosure laws can use the Greenhouse Gas Protocol as a standard for structured, auditable reporting, a review of methods, data sources and disclosures under the protocol is timely for compliance planning, says Thierry Montoya at Frost Brown.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Environmental archive.