Last month, Governor Murphy signed a bill that affects the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) in firefighting foam. The law, approved as P.L.2023, c.243 (Bill A4125 or S2712), accomplishes a few things: it (1) largely prohibits PFAS-containing firefighting foam, (2) asks the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to form a collection…

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By Rachel Bernasconi, Paul Cutrone, Marissa Dreher, Ben Dudley, Chris Gardner, Erin Hawthorne, Justine Giuliani, Sarah Goodhew, Philippa Noakes, Darren Perry, Penny Stevens, Henry Skene and Michael Tamvakologos

Seyfarth just celebrated ten years of service to leading employers in Australia. To mark the occasion, we invited…

High-rise buildings and blue sky Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore will also launch 12 key initiatives, including a levy on sustainable aviation fuel and low-carbon electricity imports.

By Paul A. Davies, Farhana Sharmeen, Michael D. Green, James Bee, and Kevin Mak

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has launched the Singapore Sustainable Air Hub Blueprint (Blueprint) as part of its efforts to decarbonise Singapore’s aviation sector while enabling sustainable growth.

Background

The Blueprint aims to reduce domestic aviation emissions[i] from airport operations by 20% from 2019 levels (404ktCO2) in 2030 and achieve net zero domestic and international aviation emissions by 2050. This net zero goal aligns with both Singapore’s national climate target and the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s target for the global aviation industry. Alongside the Blueprint, CAAS will introduce 12 initiatives to decarbonise Singapore’s aviation sector and five enablers for the effective implementation of these decarbonisation initiatives. The initiatives will be implemented across three domains: airport, airline, and air traffic management.

Effective April 12, a new eagle take permitting regime will be in place. The eagle take permitting scheme has been criticized because of its overly conservative and burdensome requirements. These concerns culminated in a lawsuit filed against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Debra Shearwater et al. v. FWS, Case No. 14-CV-02830 (N.D. Cal 2015). The changes to the permitting regulations published on February 8 are the outcome of that litigation.

The EPA Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) February 15, 2024, report on EPA’s practices in collecting, retaining, and producing criminal discovery materials in environmental cases found that EPA’s special agents largely adhered to requirements embedded in the due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the Brady doctrine, the Jencks Act, and the Federal Rules of…

All European Union flags in front of parliament eu

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have made some significant changes to the European Commission’s proposal.

On 5 February 2024, the European Parliament and Council of the EU announced that they had reached a provisional political agreement on the text of the ESG Ratings Regulation (the Regulation). The agreed text was subsequently published on 14 February 2024. The Regulation was initially proposed by the Commission in June 2023, and seeks to introduce a new regulatory regime for ESG ratings providers “operating in the Union”. Refer to this Latham blog post for previous commentary on the proposal.

In an important published opinion filed February 16, 2024, the Fourth District Court of Appeal (Div. 1) held the San Diego County Board of Supervisors committed a prejudicial abuse of discretion in granting project opponents’ appeals of the Planning Commission’s decision upholding County’s use of the CEQA Guidelines section 15183 exemption for a construction debris and inert materials recycling facility project.  Hilltop Group, Inc., et al v. County of San Diego, et al. (2024) 99 Cal.App.5th 890.  The decision is noteworthy not just as the newest in a series of recent published decisions explicating the application of this important CEQA exemption, but because it sides with and grants a writ remedy to a project developer plaintiff that ultimately prevailed in litigation alleging a lead agency overstepped its legal authority by ordering preparation of an unnecessary EIR for an exempt project.

Exercising one of its most important and far-reaching powers under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has lowered the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from 12 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) down to 9 ug/m3, changing the game on air quality permitting for much of the U.S. EPA’s February 7, 2024 final rule, which will become effective 60 days following its publication in the Federal Register, represents a reversal of the Trump administration’s decision to retain the PM2.5 standard of 12 ug/m3 set under the Obama administration in 2012. The lower standard will set off a chain reaction of additional requirements for state air agencies, and ultimately industrial sources, in places designated as nonattainment with the new standard, but one impact of the new standard will be felt almost immediately: increased difficulty in obtaining air permits.