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Law and the Environment

Our blog provides perspective on developments in environmental law and policy - which developments may matter to you, and how and why they matter. Whether you are a manufacturer or a power plant developer, a renewable energy developer or hoping to be a renewable energy consumer, this blog offers commentary on current issues that are important to your business.

Supreme Court to Decide Case That Could Redefine Boundaries of Judicial and Environmental Review of Federal Permit Applications
Blog March 11, 2026
When a federal agency applies for a permit, has it made a “final” decision that courts can review, or is it just one step in a longer regulatory process?…
Trump’s EPA Abandons Climate Action
Blog February 13, 2026
Yesterday, the EPA published a final rule repealing the agency’s 2009 Endangerment Finding, the legal foundation for federal greenhouse gas regulation…
How Much Deference to Agency NEPA Decisions After Seven County? Definitely
Blog January 08, 2026
Judges inclined to support agency decision making would point to the deference given to agency decisions under the APA, while judges unsympathetic to the agency position would point to the limits on deference to the agencies…
Supreme Court Holds That Agencies Have “Substantial” Discretion to Omit Upstream and Downstream Projects from Environmental Reviews
Blog May 30, 2025
On May 29, 2025, a unanimous Supreme Court (voting 8-0, with Justice Gorsuch recused) held that federal agencies need not consider the environmental effects of “upstream” and “downstream” projects that are separate in time or place from the project under review…
The 5th Circuit Rejects EPA's Nonattainment Designations in Texas; Don't Blame Loper Bright
Blog May 27, 2025
On May 16, in Texas v. EPA, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected EPA’s nonattainment designation for two counties in Texas…
If CEQ No Longer Implements NEPA, Is that Good or Bad for Project Developers?
Blog November 14, 2024
Earlier this week, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the National Environmental Policy Act does not authorize the Council on Environmental Quality to issue binding regulations governing how federal agencies must implement NEPA…
Fluoridation May Not Be A Commie Plot, But It Does Apparently Present Unreasonable Risks
Blog October 02, 2024
For those of us of a certain age, Sterling Hayden's speech as Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove concerning the Communist plot to fluoridate our water is iconic. Well, it turns out that the old adage may be true. Just because it’s a conspiracy theory doesn’t mean that they’re not out to get us…
Some Evidence that Deference to Agency Technical Decisions May Survive Loper-Bright
Blog August 15, 2024
A decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals provided some confirmation that judicial deference to agency technical decisions is alive and well post-Chevron. In Huntsman Petrochemical v. EPA, the court rejected a challenge to EPA’s emissions limitation for ethylene oxide…
Does Loper-Bright Mean the End of Deference to Agency Expertise?
Blog July 31, 2024
Greenwire had an article yesterday with the breathless headline “Post-Chevron era tests courts’ readiness to tackle science.” The article noted that, in the recent Supreme Court decision in Ohio v. EPA, Justice Gorsuch’s majority opinion confused nitrous oxide with nitrogen oxides, using the justice’s confusion to question whether, post-Chevron, judges have the scientific chops to wade into the complicated scientific waters that will be necessary in a post-Chevron world…
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ABOUT

In today’s fast changing world, almost all of us get our news – including our news about developments in environmental law and policy – electronically. This blog is not intended to be a substitute for the BNA™, or Greenwire™, or Google™, although we do hope that we will be able on occasion to let you know about issues that haven’t yet come to your attention.

What we really want to accomplish is to be able to provide some perspective on those developments. We’ll try to tell you which developments may matter to you. And why they matter. And how they matter. Whether you are a manufacturer or a power plant developer, whether you are a renewable energy developer or hoping to be a renewable energy consumer, whether you are a municipality or public agency or university, we want to comment on current issues in a way that is useful to you in your business.

Frankly, this blog also provides us with the opportunity to introduce you to Foley Hoag’s Environmental Practice Group. Our practice has been New England’s preeminent environmental practice for the past twenty years. We have the depth and capacity to handle the wide array of environmental issues that can arise in the course of your business. We will work with you to resolve any environmental issues that must be addressed in order for you to achieve your business goals – from permitting new projects to cost-effective cleanup of urban Brownfields properties to implementation of cost-effective due diligence in the support of acquisitions to navigating the emerging world of climate change regulations.

We will also assist you in the defense and prosecution of environmental litigation. As a result of our service to our clients, we have attained a national reputation in environmental matters. Our lawyers have built an impressive record resolving environmental disputes at the negotiating table and in the courtroom, and a number of our cases have produced precedents of national importance.

The scope of this blog will be commensurate with the scope of our practice. We’ll cover climate change, renewable energy, hazardous and solid waste, clean air and water, sustainability and green design. You name it, if it’s got an acronym attached to it, we’ll cover it.

As the headline indicates, we want to inform, update, comment, and discuss. In other words, while we’re going to enjoy posting, we’ll enjoy the blog more – and its usefulness will increase – if we hear from you also. Please comment on the blog entries. Let us know about developments we missed or implications of our discussions that we did not consider.

We look forward to the conversation.