Legal Blogs and Updates

  • Posts by Agnes Antonian
    Partner

    As Chair of Connell Foley LLP's Environmental Law practice group, Agnes Antonian draws on her engineering background to address a broad range of complex environmental litigation and land use matters. Her environmental litigation ...

DOJ Announces Environmental Justice Strategy and New Office of Environmental Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced several initiatives to advance environmental justice interests, including restoring federal prosecutors’ authority to include special environmental justice projects in settlements and establishing a federal Office of ...

FERC New Climate Policy Impacts Under Review

The potential impacts from the climate policy changes to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulations continue to evolve. Public comments have been submitted by environmental groups, industry groups and states in response to the FERC's proposed climate policy changes to ...

United States Expands National Environmental Policy Act Reviews – More Scrutiny on Infrastructure and Development Anticipated

This week, the Council on Environmental Quality issued a final rule amending the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), effectively revoking changes made in 2020 by the Trump Administration that limited the scope of NEPA reviews. The rule is phase one of a two-part process, with ...

EPA Accepting Comments on Proposed National Priorities List Superfund Sites, Including Hackensack River

On March 17, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed that five new sites, including the Lower Hackensack River and the Brillo Landfill in Victory, New York, be added to the National Priorities List. The EPA is currently accepting comments on these proposed listings ...

The Fight Over Federal Jurisdiction Continues - U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments Seeking to Limit Jurisdiction Over Wetlands

This week, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in a case concerning the scope of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. The case, brought by private landowners in Idaho, may ultimately determine the test to be applied when development is proposed in or near wetlands ...

SEC Climate Proposal Threatens to Inflict Companies with Burdensome New Disclosures

On March 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a rule proposal that, if adopted, would impose new climate-related disclosure requirements on publicly traded companies. The rule would require these “registrants” to disclose information on climate risks and ...

Court Issues an Order Vacating and Remanding Navigable Waters Protection Rule – A New Twist to the Continually-Evolving Rule and Its Impact on Property Owners

During Donald Trump’s presidency, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limited the scope of its enforcement under the Clean Water Act by implementing the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule (2020 Rule), which provided a new—more narrow—definition of “waters of the ...

Return of Superfund Tax

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly referred to as Superfund, provides broad federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment ...

Acting Commissioner LaTourette Maps Out Plans for the NJDEP

On January 16, 2021, Shawn LaTourette became New Jersey’s Acting Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). Two weeks into office, Acting Commissioner LaTourette attended the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey’s (CIANJ) virtual ...

Army Corps of Engineers Finalizes New Rule for Nationwide Permits

On January 5, 2021, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) released a new final rule for its nationwide permits (NWPs) program, which is designed to help protect the aquatic environment and the public interest. Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and ...

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