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Legislation / New York
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New York State Legislature Fails Again to Pass Extended Producer Responsibility Legislation

Influenced by laws in existence in multiple states, including California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington, the New York State Legislature has examined in recent years extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation intended to hold producers accountable for managing their packaging at the end of life. 

The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA), aka A1749, was proposed to create an EPR program for packaging.

PRRIA would:

  • Reduce plastic packaging by 30 percent incrementally over 12 years.
  • Require that by 2052 all packaging
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Clean Air Act
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Venue Matters: Supreme Court Clarifies Where Clean Air Act Cases Belong

On June 18, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two decisions that clarify a deceptively simple question under the Clean Air Act: Where should lawsuits challenging EPA actions be filed?

The rulings – EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining LLC and Oklahoma et al. v. EPA – do not change the substance of environmental law, but they do shape how and where that law gets litigated. And that matters.

At the heart of both cases is a venue provision in the Clean Air Act, which …

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NEPA
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Supreme Court Cuts Down ‘Judicial Oak’ of NEPA; Energy and Infrastructure Developments Projected to Increase

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that agencies preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the guidance of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) need only to consider the environmental effects of the “project at hand” and not those that are “separate in time and place.” 

The 8-0 decision handed down May 29 in Seven Cnty. Infrastructure Coal. v. Eagle County — of which Justice Gorsuch did not take part — further held that courts should “defer to an agency’s reasonable choices regarding the scope and …

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Large coal fired power plant with smoking chimneys
EPA / Regulations
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New Proposed Rules Would Repeal Certain Regulations on Power Plants, Mercury and Air Toxics Standards

The Trump administration is proposing two repeals: one on regulations of power plants and the other on certain amendments to the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

The administration believes these regulations have “imposed massive costs on coal-, oil-, and gas-fired power plants, raising the cost of living for American families, imperiling the reliability of our electric grid, and limiting American energy prosperity.”

First: EPA is proposing to repeal all “greenhouse gas” emissions standards for the power sector under Section 111 of the Clean …

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Crypto
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Will Riding the Crypto Mining Wave Only Lead to Wipeout?

In the past couple of years, multiple states across the nation have made various attempts to attract cryptocurrency mining centers at which the virtual currency is “mined” on a colossal scale — a process requiring a significant amount of energy — through legislation and business and tax incentives (covered extensively by ELM, including here and here).

After what seemed like increasing setbacks for the cryptocurrency industry, major U.S. banks are now boasting cryptocurrency trading desks. Therefore, regardless of some states’ earlier challenges in …

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sunrise over industrial park
Emissions / NEPA
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NEPA’s Greenhouse Gas Guidance Blown Up In Smoke

At the beginning of this year, ELM forecasted that 2025 would be a big year for the National Environmental Policy Act (previously covered by ELM  here), and so far, our prediction continues to ring true. 

In the latest NEPA news, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the withdrawal of its interim guidance on “Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change” in NEPA reviews, effective May 28. The CEQ determined this interim guidance, which was previously …

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New Jersey / PFAS
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Decoding a Landmark Case: Environmental Laws and Legal Strategy in New Jersey’s PFAS Trial against DuPont

A high-stakes environmental trial is unfolding in New Jersey, where the state is taking on E.I. DuPont de Nemours and its related entities over widespread PFAS contamination at the former Chamber Works facility in Salem County. The outcome of this case — one of the most closely watched environmental proceedings in the country — could have a significant ripple effect on how other states pursue PFAS-related claims and how corporate defendants approach these increasingly high-profile cases.

In this case, New Jersey alleges that DuPont and …

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Flag of the US State of Colorado
Colorado / PFAS
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Colorado Bans Sale and Distribution of Products Containing PFAS

As regularly reported by the Environmental Law Monitor, state legislatures have increasingly been taking action independent of federal government regulation to address the significant challenge of eliminating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS from their jurisdictions.

Shortly after the Environmental Protection Agency finalized its first-ever drinking water standards for six PFAS in April, Colorado on May 1 became the 13th state to pass legislation seeking to ban PFAS from the marketplace. Specifically, Colorado’s new law, SB24-081, targets the sale and …

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PFAS / Settlements
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Breaking News: Significant PFAS Settlement in New Jersey

Another major settlement was announced this week in New Jersey in consolidated cases filed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and other state entities. (You can review the Judicial Consent Order here as well as previously PFAS settlements reported by our firm here and here, including in New Jersey for remediation costs.)

Settling plaintiffs, including the NJ DEP and its commissioner, and the administrator of the NJ Spill Compensation Fund,  alleged that “3M designed, manufactured, marketed, and sold certain PFAS, …

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EPA / Settlements
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EPA Settles with Pennsylvania Schools Over Alleged Asbestos Violations

The Environmental Protection Agency announced May 6 it had reached a settlement with Scranton, Pa. schools regarding alleged asbestos violations. The EPA alleged the school district had failed “to include all required elements in the asbestos management plans for 15 schools,” and that it failed, “to maintain complete, updated copies of the asbestos management plans for 19 schools in its administrative office and in the administrative offices of those schools.”

The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) is the section of the Toxic Substances Control …

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