Earlier this month, Chief Judge Brian Morris made clear that NEPA remains a powerful weapon against the leasing of public lands for fossil fuel extraction. It’s déjà vu all over again for the projects at issue. In 2018, Judge Morris ruled that two resource management plans (RMPs) prepared by the Bureau of Land Management concerning
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Massachusetts Clean Energy Bill Turbocharges the Adoption of Zero Emission Vehicles and Clean Transportation
Based on numerous sources, Governor Baker has now signed an Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind. This bill includes a number of key advancements for increased adoption of zero emission vehicles and clean transportation throughout the Commonwealth. The law:
Massachusetts Passes Climate Bill Focused on Clean Energy and Offshore Wind
Governor Baker signed the climate bill (H.5060), titled An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind, into law on Thursday August 11, 2022. The act combines and modifies provisions from the House’s proposed offshore wind bill (H.4524) and the Senate’s proposed omnibus climate bill (S.2819). The legislation covers a wide range of policy
Inflation Reduction Act Aims to Propel EV and Clean Fuel Vehicle Adoption
The Inflation Reduction Act looks to accelerate the adoption of clean vehicles by reforming the related tax credits in a number of key ways. Specifically, the bill does the following.
- Previously, Tesla, GM, and Toyota were all over the 200,000 vehicle threshold and thus ineligible for
The Battle Over PFAS Continues to Heat Up. The Assessment of Costs and Benefits Remains Undone.
Last month, EPA issued interim health advisories for PFOA and PFOS that took many people’s breath away. It is rather amazing how quickly we’ve moved from parts per billion past parts per trillion to the low parts per quadrillion range. 
At the same time, EPA issued a final health advisory for GenX compounds, setting
Is Momentum Building To Change the Way We Manage Plastic?
There has been a reasonable amount of recent activity related to management (or lack thereof) of plastic waste. Two more developments this month have me wondering whether we might be near the proverbial tipping point in our approach to managing plastics.
First, California enacted a fairly sweeping statute, S.B. 54, that will impose extended
Wondering How States Will Respond to West Virginia v. EPA? Massachusetts Provides An Early Answer
Those wondering what states can do to at least partially ameliorate the impacts of West Virginia v. EPA need look no farther than Massachusetts, which issued its Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2025 and 2030 the same day that the Supreme Court extended its crusade against the modern world by limiting EPA’s authority to
West Virginia v. EPA Limits the Federal Government’s Power to Promote Clean Energy and Combat Climate Change
The Supreme Court decided West Virginia v. EPA on Thursday, June 30, 2022, curbing the power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants across the country. The decision focuses on EPA’s authority under a specific section of the Clean Air Act. But a closer read suggests more sweeping,
Biden-Harris Administration Announce New Proposed Rules for National Electric Vehicle Charging Network
On June 9, 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a notice of proposed rulemaking to set minimum standards and requirements for projects funded through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program (“NEVI”), which was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Generally, NEVI will distribute $1 billion per year, for FY 2022-2026, in appropriations to
FWS and NOAA Decide That “Habitat” Should Not Be Defined By Regulation: I Hope This Is Good News
This week, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rule rescinding the rule issued in 2020 defining “habitat” for the purposes of determining what constitutes “critical habitat” under the Endangered Species Act. You see, in a piece of expert legislative drafting in 1973, Congress defined the term “critical