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
Inside Energy & Environment
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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…
Statement of Energy Strategy Coalition upon the EPA’s Issuance of Proposed Greenhouse Gas Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants
The Energy Strategy Coalition is a group of companies that operates in nearly every state and includes some of the nation’s largest investor-owned electric and gas utilities, public power authorities and generators of electricity from renewable, nuclear and gas-fired sources.[1]
The EPA’s proposal of carbon pollution standards for existing coal-fired power plants and new…
ICVCM Launches Core Carbon Principles for Voluntary Carbon Market
On March 30, the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (ICVCM), an independent governance body that aims to set and maintain a global standard for quality in the voluntary carbon market, announced the launch of its Core Carbon Principles. The Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) are intended to establish fundamental principles for high-quality carbon credits…
Greenwashing: EU Unveils Ambitious Proposal on Green Claims
By Rosa Oyarzabal & Seán Finan
On March 22, 2023, the European Commission (“Commission”) presented its proposal for a Directive on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims (“Proposed Green Claims Directive”). The Proposed Green Claims Directive is intended to work in tandem with the Commission’s 2022 Proposal for a Directive empowering consumers for the green transition through better protection against unfair…
Much-Anticipated Proposed Regulations on the 30D EV Tax Credit Have Finally Arrived—but Leave a Key Question Unresolved
Today, the Department of the Treasury and IRS made available for public inspection proposed regulations on the new clean vehicle credit under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, as codified in section 30D of the Internal Revenue Code. These proposed regulations will be published in the Federal Register on April 17, 2023, and the due…
Will Treasury Adopt the Same Interpretation of “Foreign Entity of Concern” for both the Section 48D Credit under the CHIPS Act and the Section 30D Credit under the Inflation Reduction Act?
Background
Later this week the Department of the Treasury is expected to release guidance on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)’s EV tax credit under section 30D of the Internal Revenue Code. Highly consequential for the guidance and practical availability of the credit will be how Treasury interprets the term “foreign entity of concern.” This is…
Stakeholders Threaten to Sue the EPA to Require Regulation of Noise Pollution
On March 17, 2023, a law school clinic submitted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) a sixty-day notice of intent to sue letter, setting forth various entities’ intent to sue the EPA for its alleged failure to perform various non-discretionary duties under the Noise Control Act of 1972 (the “Act”).
The Act has…
EPA Requires States to Address the Cybersecurity of Public Water Systems
On March 3, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a memorandum requiring states to evaluate the cybersecurity of operational technology used by public water systems (“PWSs”) “when conducting PWS sanitary surveys or through other state programs.” EPA’s memorandum “interprets the regulatory requirements relating to the conduct of sanitary surveys to require that…