The New York state legislature has passed a bill (S.1322/A.994) to modify previous legislation that largely bans per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) in clothing and apparel by 2025 that was signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul in the final hours of 2022.
In agreeing to the ban, Governor Hochul called upon
On March 13, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took the long-anticipated step of proposing maximum contaminant level goals (MCLGs), as well as individual maximum contaminant levels (MCLs), for six PFAS compounds under the Safe Drinking Water Act. PFAS are a large family of synthetic chemicals that have been in use since the 1940s. Many PFAS
As part of “A Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net Zero Age” to respond to the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) (see our alert), the European Commission (the “Commission”) adopted on 9 March 2023 its Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework for State Aid measures to support the economy following the aggression
On February 17, 2023, the Securities Commission Malaysia (“SC”) published the revised Guidelines on Sustainable and Responsible Investment Funds (“Guidelines”) setting out the reporting and disclosure requirements for a fund to qualify as a Sustainable and Responsible Investment (“SRI”) Fund and, under a new chapter added to the Guidelines, an ASEAN Sustainable and Responsible Fund
The scope of suits available to private citizens under the Clean Water Act is not unlimited. A Federal District Court in Massachusetts recently made that clear in dismissing a citizen suit filed by the Conservation Law Foundation against the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, which operates Boston’s Deer Island Sewage Treatment Plant, the second largest treatment
Methane Emissions: DOE Offers $47 Million to Fund Methane Emissions Reduction Technologies 
On Monday, March 13, 2023, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced $47 million in funding that will be made available for 22 new projects focused on methane emissions reduction. These projects will develop technologies to detect, quantify, and reduce methane emissions in regions
With the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) set to take effect on January 1, 2024, an estimated 32 million entities will soon be required to report personal information about their beneficial owners to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. While the law is aimed at curbing money laundering, terrorist
President Biden issued his first veto today. Biden’s veto returns to Congress a joint resolution that attempts to nullify a recent rule from the Department of Labor regarding consideration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors when investing in retirement accounts. This rule went into effect on January 30, 2023, and allows for retirement plan
Last week, EPA released the Agency’s 2021 Toxic Release Inventory (“TRI”) Analysis showing that only 44 facilities submitted 89 forms on their per- and polyfluoroalkyl (“PFAS”) releases and waste management, a marginal increase over the 38 facilities that submitted such data in 2020. The TRI Analysis comes on the heels of EPA’s proposed (and highly
WOTUS: Twenty-Four States File New Complaint Against EPA Challenging New WOTUS Rule
On February 16, 2023, a coalition of twenty-four states filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota Eastern Division against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the new final rule