Environmental

  • November 13, 2024

    A 3M PFAS Win Could Be Hollow, Mich. Justice Suggests

    Michigan Supreme Court justices asked Wednesday what it would mean to invalidate the state's regulations on so-called forever chemicals in drinking water, with one justice commenting that winning the case might be of little consequence for 3M, the company that brought the challenge, while undoing protections for the water supply.

  • November 13, 2024

    Md. Electricity 'Greenwashing' Law Is A Muzzle, Judge Told

    A Maryland law attempting to crack down on electricity suppliers' "greenwashing" claims unconstitutionally mandates companies speak about their product in a way that conforms to what the state considers "sustainable energy," a renewable energy company and an advocacy organization argued in Maryland federal court.

  • November 13, 2024

    Indigenous Groups Can Join Colombia's Fight With Glencore

    An international tribunal has agreed to allow two Indigenous Wayuu communities to express their views about a massive mining project's water use in an arbitral dispute between commodities giant Glencore International AG and the Republic of Colombia.

  • November 13, 2024

    EPA Tells DC Circ. That Mercury Rule Is Sound

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told the D.C. Circuit that opponents of its rule strengthening standards for mercury and other toxic air emissions at power plants are seeking to hamstring the agency with a too-narrow interpretation of the Clean Air Act.

  • November 13, 2024

    Judge To Confirm Ambri Ch. 11 Wind-Down Plan

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge Wednesday agreed to approve the Chapter 11 plan of battery company Ambri Inc., which will sell its assets to its lenders and wind down.

  • November 13, 2024

    LNG Co. Says Full DC Circ. Must Revive Texas Project

    The company behind a liquefied natural gas project on the Texas Gulf Coast urged the full D.C. Circuit on Wednesday to vacate a panel's ruling nixing its federal approval, citing another panel's decision finding the White House Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act regulations are unenforceable.

  • November 13, 2024

    NC Wetlands Developer Wants 4th Circ. To Revive Projects

    A North Carolina landowner has urged the Fourth Circuit to block a new rule defining the scope of the Clean Water Act, arguing that the new rule saddles him with "extraordinary compliance costs" for wetland development projects and goes beyond the law's actual scope.

  • November 13, 2024

    Mass. AG Ready To Reprise Office's Role As Trump Foil

    Taking a page from her predecessor's book, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell told Law360 she is hoping to work with the incoming Trump administration, but the Democrat said she is nevertheless prepared to use her office's "significant tools and power" to challenge actions she feels are at odds with her constituents' interests.

  • November 13, 2024

    Trump Taps DOJ Critic Matt Gaetz For Attorney General

    President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated Rep. Matt Gaetz to be the next U.S. attorney general, seeking to elevate a close political ally to lead a Justice Department that the Florida lawmaker has sharply criticized and that last year declined to charge him in a sex-trafficking investigation.

  • November 13, 2024

    EPA Effluent Rule Is Fatally Flawed, 8th Circ. Told

    Republican-led states, utilities and industry groups called on the Eighth Circuit to vacate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule setting new wastewater limitations for coal-fired power plants, saying it is based on economically unavailable technologies in an effort to further the Biden administration's goal of shuttering coal plants.

  • November 12, 2024

    Trump Taps Elon Musk To Head New 'Gov't Efficiency' Dept.

    President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a newly created "Department in Government Efficiency" for his administration come January.

  • November 12, 2024

    Ga. Judge Tosses Feral Horses Island Enviro Suit

    A Georgia federal judge encouraged the National Park Service to better manage the feral horses of Cumberland Island, even as she dismissed a lawsuit alleging federal and state agencies mistreated the animals and allowed them to trample the habitat, eggs and nests of endangered sea turtles and piping plovers.

  • November 12, 2024

    Trump Pick To Lead EPA Is Loyal, Would Learn On The Job

    President-elect Donald Trump prioritized loyalty and a demonstrated ability to carry out his priorities with his announcement that he intends to nominate a former congressman from New York state to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

  • November 12, 2024

    Split DC Circ. Says White House Can't Issue NEPA Regs

    A divided D.C. Circuit determined Tuesday that the White House Council on Environmental Quality lacks the authority to issue legally binding regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, finding there is no statutory language showing Congress empowered it to do so.

  • November 12, 2024

    Mich. High Court Snapshot: 3M's PFAS Fight, Detroit Fire Fees

    The Michigan Supreme Court returns to the bench Wednesday in a packed oral argument sitting, including a major case on the viability of state PFAS regulations in a challenge brought by 3M Co.

  • November 12, 2024

    Kentucky Plunges Into 2nd Challenge To Waters Of US Rule

    Kentucky has refiled its lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule defining the scope of the federal government's jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act, after the Sixth Circuit found that a federal district judge improperly dismissed the case.

  • November 12, 2024

    Wash. Labor Dept. Wants Out Of Union's Farm Wage Claims

    The Washington Employment Security Department wants to escape a farmworker union's Administrative Procedure Act challenge to the U.S. Department of Labor's prevailing wage rules in federal court, saying that the law isn't applicable to state agencies.

  • November 12, 2024

    Feds Want Pasadena Claims Tossed In Caltech Pollution Suit

    The U.S. government is urging a California federal court to throw out cross-claims from the city of Pasadena in a suit over groundwater contamination from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's work in the mid-20th century, saying the city is wrongly conflating claims against the California Institute of Technology and the government.

  • November 12, 2024

    EPA Finalizes Waste Emissions Charge For Oil, Gas Facilities

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued a final rule implementing a waste emissions charge aimed at slashing methane emissions from high-emitting oil and gas facilities by 1.2 million metric tons through 2035.

  • November 12, 2024

    Trump's 'Pro-Business' Agenda Could Be A Boon For M&A

    President-elect Donald Trump's "pro-business" priorities and an anticipated relaxation of antitrust scrutiny are expected to boost mergers and acquisitions activity, but his tariff plan may have mixed results across sectors — and select deals could be subject to his "unpredictability," attorneys told Law360.

  • November 12, 2024

    Nuke Discharge Law Doesn't Usurp Feds, NY Says

    A New York state law banning discharges of radioactive material into the Hudson River is aimed at protecting the local economy as the Indian Point nuclear power plant is decommissioned and therefore isn't federally preempted, the Empire State told a federal judge Friday.

  • November 12, 2024

    Skadden Adds Former Solar Company General Counsel In DC

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has hired the former general counsel of solar company Summit Ridge Energy to beef up its energy and infrastructure practice in Washington, D.C., the firm announced on Tuesday.

  • November 12, 2024

    Supreme Court Won't Revive Youth Climate Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will not undo the Ninth Circuit's order allowing the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by youth plaintiffs who accuse the federal government of endangering their futures with policies that exacerbate climate change.

  • November 12, 2024

    Shell Gets Dutch Climate Emissions Ruling Overturned

    A Dutch appeals court has overturned a landmark ruling that ordered Shell to reduce its carbon emissions, finding on Tuesday that there was no "social standard of care" requiring the oil and gas producer to meet legally imposed climate targets.

  • November 08, 2024

    LA Waterkeeper Claims BNSF Polluted Waters For Years

    BNSF Railway Co. has been discharging polluted stormwater into the waters of Los Angeles County for more than four years, the Los Angeles Waterkeeper has alleged in a new suit.

Expert Analysis

  • 3rd Circ. Hertz Ruling Highlights Flawed Bankruptcy Theory

    Author Photo

    The Third Circuit, in its recent Hertz bankruptcy decision, became the latest appeals court to hold that noteholders were entitled to interest before shareholders under the absolute priority rule, but risked going astray by invoking the flawed theory of code impairment, say Matthew McGill and David Casazza at Gibson Dunn.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

    Author Photo

    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • The Complex Challenges Facing Sustainable Food Packaging

    Author Photo

    More and more states are requiring recycled content to be used in product packaging, creating complex technological and regulatory considerations for manufacturers who must also comply with federal food safety requirements, say Peter Coneski and Natalie Rainer at K&L Gates.

  • Int'l Agreements Are Key For Safe Nuclear Waste Disposal

    Author Photo

    By replacing fossil fuels, nuclear energy has the potential to offer a major contribution to the global fight against climate change — but ensuring that nuclear power is safe and sustainable will require binding, multinational agreements for safe nuclear waste disposal, say Ryan Schermerhorn and Christopher Zahn at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

    Author Photo

    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future

    Author Photo

    As the electric vehicle market expands, and federal and state incentives and mandates intended to promote EV use come into effect, owners and operators of multifamily residential properties should be prepared to meet the growing demand for onsite EV charging infrastructure, say Sydney Tucker and Andreas Wokutch at Frost Brown.

  • New Law May Move Calif. Toward Fashion Sustainability

    Author Photo

    California’s recently signed Responsible Textile Recovery Act seeks to increase sustainability innovation in the fashion industry, but it could also create compliance hurdles for brands, especially smaller fashion houses that do not have ample resources, say Warren Koshofer and Maggie Franz at Michelman & Robinson.

  • Conn. Court Split May Lead To Vertical Forum Shopping

    Author Photo

    As shown by a recent ruling in State v. Exxon Mobil, Connecticut state and federal courts are split on personal jurisdiction, and until the Connecticut Supreme Court steps in, parties may be incentivized to forum shop, causing foreign entities to endure costly litigation and uncertain liability, says Matthew Gibbons at Shipman & Goodwin.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

    Author Photo

    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Enviro Policy Trends That Will Continue Beyond The Election

    Author Photo

    Come October in a presidential election year, the policy world feels like a winner-take-all scenario, with the outcome of the vote determining how or even whether we are regulated — but there are several key ongoing trends that will continue to drive environmental regulation regardless of the election results, say J. Michael Showalter and Samuel Rasche at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Using Primacy And Recency Effects In Opening Statements

    Author Photo

    By understanding and strategically employing the primacy and recency effects in opening statements, attorneys can significantly enhance their persuasive impact, ensuring that their narrative is both compelling and memorable from the outset, says Bill Kanasky at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Must Halt For-Profit Climate Tort Proliferation

    Author Photo

    If the U.S. Supreme Court does not seize the opportunity presented by Honolulu v. Sunoco to reassert federal authority over interstate pollution regulation, the resulting frenzy of profit-driven environmental mass torts against energy companies will stunt American competitiveness and muddle climate policy, says Gale Norton at Liberty Energy.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

    Author Photo

    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

    Author Photo

    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

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.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!