Last week, the California Legislature passed two bills as part of the state’s landmark “Climate Accountability Package.” If signed by Governor Newsom as anticipated, the two laws—Senate Bill 253 (SB 253) and Senate Bill 261 (SB 261)—will usher in significant climate-related disclosure requirements for thousands of U.S. public and private companies that do business in
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California Legislature Passes Landmark Climate Disclosure Laws: Spotlight on SB 253
Last week, the California Legislature passed two bills comprising the core of a landmark “Climate Accountability Package.” Together, the two bills will impose extensive new climate-related disclosure obligations on thousands of U.S. public and private companies with operations in California. Senate Bill 253 (SB 253) would require companies with greater than $1 billion in annual
Q&A: Navigating Climate and ESG Amid Regulatory Uncertainty
The following interview originally appeared in the National Law Journal.
What you need to know
- One of the significant issues many of their multinational clients have is the growing divide between how they operate and what’s expected of them in the U.S. versus Europe.
- At the same time the legal field has experienced this anti-ESG
EPA Webinar Addresses Pesticidal Device Efficacy Data
On September 6, 2023, EPA held a webinar relating to pesticidal devices, focused on air cleaning devices. The webinar highlighted EPA’s expectations for data that manufacturers must have on file to substantiate efficacy claims for these devices. This provides important additional guidance to manufacturers regarding the types of testing EPA expects to be conducted.
Corporate Reporting in the UK: The International Sustainability Standards Board
On 26 June 2023, the International Sustainability Standards Board (“ISSB”) published its inaugural International Financial Reporting Standards Sustainability Disclosure Standards (the “ISSB Standards”) (read our previous blog post on this here). In August 2023, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published Primary Market Bulletin 45, confirming its intentions to update its climate-related disclosures
The First Year of the Inflation Reduction Act
On August 16, 2022—one year ago today—President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”), the most significant clean energy and climate law in U.S. history. As we described in a series last summer, the IRA created durable tax credits and other fiscal programs to revitalize domestic manufacturing and incentivize clean energy solutions in nearly every
White House Council on Environmental Quality Proposes “Phase 2” Revisions to Environmental Review Regulations
On July 31, 2023, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released the second phase of its revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations that govern federal environmental review. Titled the “Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule,” the proposed rule reflects CEQ’s aim to revise and modernize the regulations and
Amendments to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): Permitting Reform in Context
The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, signed into law on June 3, raised the U.S. debt limit and ushered in the most significant revisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in its 50+ year history. While the statutory changes are notable and important to understand, most of the changes codify longstanding agency practice
FTC Solicits Diverse Perspectives during Workshop on Recyclable Claims
On May 23, 2023, the FTC hosted a public workshop on recyclable claims called “Talking Trash at the FTC: Recyclable Claims and the Green Guides.” The FTC convened the workshop in connection with its ongoing review of the Green Guides. The workshop included three panels of stakeholders discussing a variety of issues
EPA Clarifies Hazardous Waste Requirements Applicable to Lithium Ion Batteries
On May 24, 2023, EPA released a guidance memorandum addressing the hazardous waste status of lithium ion batteries under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”). EPA released the guidance to “both remove uncertainties for the states and industry about the regulatory status of these materials,” and to ensure that lithium ion batteries are properly