Last month, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf wrote to the Federal Highway Administration, stating that Oakland “is suffering from a crippling housing and homelessness crisis.” Furthermore, she complained that:
Addressing this crisis requires flexibility and creativity. … Federal environmental responsibilities, such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), can slow, discourage, or prevent these creative solutions.
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FERC Proposes to Reform Transmission Planning; It’s Not a Small Task
Late last month, FERC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking. Its intent is to “remedy deficiencies in the Commission’s existing regional transmission planning and cost allocation requirements.” In short, it’s time for a 21st Century grid that actually accommodates changes in how electricity is being generated.
I’m not sure I can improve much on
Sometimes the Law Really Is Unambiguous — Clean Water Act Edition
Last week, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a person who enters into an administrative settlement with a state is immune from citizen suits seeking civil penalties, but not immune from suits for declaratory or injunctive relief. I don’t think that the decision would even have been newsworthy, if it hadn’t required that
CEQ Finalizes Phase I NEPA Regulations: Undoing Trump’s Regulations Is One Thing; Modernizing NEPA Is Another
Earlier this week, the Council on Environmental Quality promulgated its Phase I rule amending the NEPA regulations. The final rule largely implements the proposed rule, though with some minor changes. Since the final rule so closely tracks the proposal, I won’t repeat the analysis that I already provided regarding these changes. 
I will briefly repeat
Maura Healey Has a Climate Plan: Is It Too Ambitious Or Not Ambitious Enough?
Take my predictions with a grain of salt, because I still remember saying that Ronald Reagan would never fool enough voters to get elected, but it seems very likely at this point that Maura Healey will be the next Governor of Massachusetts. That makes her release of a climate plan a matter of some significance.
Microplastics in the Lungs: The Next Asbestos or Are We Just Catastrophizing?
Two developments this week got me thinking about how our government deals – or fails to deal – with risk. First, EPA proposed to ban the manufacture (including import) of chrysotile asbestos. EPA’s authority for doing so is the Toxic Substances Control Act which provides that: 
if EPA determines through a TSCA section 6(b)
The Latest IPCC Report — How Are We Doing on Mitigation?
Earlier this month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. As all IPCC reports are, it’s a serious piece of work and not easily summarized at blog length. Nonetheless, here are some of what seemed to me to be important takeaways:
- Firstly, and most importantly, we’re not
Foley Hoag Attorneys Contribute to French-U.S. Plastic Pollution Pro-Bono Project
In September 2022, Foley Hoag partnered with the Global Council for Science and the Environment (GCSE) and the American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) on a collaborative research effort designed to compare French and U.S. legal frameworks for regulating plastic pollution. Over the last six months, a team of international environmental lawyers analyzed the existing
PM2.5 Emissions From Wildfires — No Longer So Exceptional!
Last week, the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee formally transmitted its recommendations to EPA Administrator Regan regarding the PM2.5 NAAQS. Consistent with trade press reporting over the past few months, the majority of CASAC members recommended that the PM2.5 NAAQS be set between 8-10 ug/m3. A minority recommended the range be set between 10-11 ug/m3.
Three Takeaways from the SEC’s New Proposed Rules on Climate Disclosures
Today, the Securities & Exchange Commission voted 3 to 1 in favor of adopting a long-awaited set of proposed revisions to SEC regulations concerning the disclosure of climate risks and related financial impacts, as well as data on greenhouse gas emissions in certain SEC filings. The recommendation to adopt the new set of rules was