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Blue SKy Wind Turbine

On April 29, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker released proposed legislation, SB2896 and HB4074, to set statewide minimum, uniform standards for wind farms and ground-mounted solar energy systems, including setback requirements, height restrictions, and landscape buffer requirements, while maintaining local authority over permitting and final project approval. Currently, Illinois counties have the authority to set all standards and siting procedures for wind and solar energy facilities.…
Continue Reading Illinois Bill Proposes Statewide Standards for Solar, Wind Farm Energy Facilities

SH21-American-Jobs-Plan-Series

In parts one and two of our series on President Biden’s infrastructure plan, we have discussed infrastructure resilience, remediation, green technologies, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Today, we focus on a central theme woven into President Biden’s proposal: equity and environmental justice.

Many of President Biden’s proposals fall into several of the four areas of federal policy intervention that environmental research institution Resources for the Future has identified as necessary for a fair transition to greener technology: workforce development and labor standards, economic development, environmental remediation and infrastructure, and public benefits. The summaries below include some of that overlap.…
Continue Reading Biden Infrastructure Proposal Prioritizes Equity and Environmental Justice

SH21-American-Jobs-Plan-Series

We have previously blogged about President Biden’s infrastructure plan released in late March. The sweeping $2 trillion plan provides a blueprint designed to strengthen America’s infrastructure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This goal was also highlighted in the president’s recent discretionary spending request to Congress, requesting $1.8 billion in programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which EPA Administrator Michael Regan called “historic investments to tackle the climate crisis[.]”

In three principal areas — research and development, vehicle emissions, and building improvements — the Biden plan pushes to spur technological advancement and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.…
Continue Reading Biden Infrastructure Proposal Plants Seeds for a Greener Tomorrow

SH21-American-Jobs-Plan-Series

President Biden’s sweeping infrastructure proposal, the American Jobs Plan, takes a broad view of what constitutes infrastructure and tackles many of the issues President Biden highlighted in his campaign, including climate change, the state of the country’s traditional infrastructure, and social inequality. The massive $2 trillion plan creates incentives and opportunities for utilities and other entities in the energy sector to remediate legacy sites and pivot toward a more resilient and greener energy infrastructure. …
Continue Reading American Jobs Plan Targets Resilience, Green Tech, and Remediation to Strengthen Crumbling Infrastructure

Empty Pizza Box

Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took a preliminary step toward requiring limits on some National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) discharges of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into surface water. On March 17, EPA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking pursuant to the Clean Water Act (CWA), which seeks public comment on data EPA has collected about certain PFAS discharges to surface water and requests additional information about businesses that make or use these substances (the ANPRM). The public has until May 17, 2021, to submit comments.…
Continue Reading EPA Considering Revised Effluent Limitations Guideline Relating to PFAS

Car engine

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently progressed its effort to stymie the aftermarket tuning of vehicles used for racing and competition in a complaint alleging that Gear Box Z violated the Clean Air Act by selling certain types of aftermarket software that modifies the engine control module (ECM), among other practices. EPA’s action is part of its national mobile source enforcement initiative to prevent the manufacturing, sale, and installation of aftermarket tuning and emission control defeat devices, in which EPA has pursued enforcement against both large and small suppliers.…
Continue Reading EPA Reinforces Position that Certain Types of ECM Changes in Road-Certified Vehicles Constitute “Tampering” Under the Clean Air Act

In one of the latest developments in the Biden administration’s recent initiatives to strengthen environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts in the United States, the U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced last week that it would not enforce a final rule requiring fiduciaries subject to ERISA to evaluate investment opportunities based upon financial performance factors, rather than ESG metrics. The DOL stated that the final rule “created a perception that fiduciaries are at risk if they include any environmental, social and governance factors in the financial evaluation of plan investments.”…
Continue Reading DOL Will Not Enforce ESG-Related Final Rule

Sequoia National Park Road. California, United States.

Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the creation of a new 22-person Climate and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Task Force in its Division of Enforcement, a notable development in a series of recent steps taken by the Biden administration focused on increasing ESG accountability.…
Continue Reading New SEC Task Force Further Demonstrates Biden Administration’s Sharp Focus on Climate and ESG Issues

On January 19, the D.C. Circuit vacated the Affordable Clean Energy Rule (ACE), a rule intended to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions emitted from power plants. Am. Lung Ass’n et al. v. EPA, No. 19-1140. The lengthy opinion touches on numerous issues raised over the last 10 years as EPA has bumped toward the goal of regulating greenhouse gases. The opinion appears to be grounded in EPA’s own assertions, made in this and other rulemakings, that climate change is a grave threat to society and power plants are a significant source of GHGs.…
Continue Reading Affordable Clean Energy Rule Vacated

Liberty to invest in new opportunity

Over the past several years, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives have gained popularity among investors, but have gained less traction in federal law. ESG are a set of criteria that investors use to evaluate the environmental and societal impacts of a business. Some European countries require that companies report their ESG metrics, but ESG reporting in the United States has generally been voluntary. There are some indications that a Biden administration — especially coupled with a democratic congress — may seek to amplify ESG reporting in the U.S. As an early indication of such action, the new administration is expected to view ESG differently than the Trump administration.…
Continue Reading ESG in the First 100 Days?