EPA Announces Federal Enforcement Priorities for 2024–2027

In August, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced its National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives for 2024–2027, including three new priorities. Every four years, EPA selects enforcement and compliance priorities. EPA works hand in hand with state agencies in prioritizing resources to address what EPA considers to be the most serious environmental issues facing the United…

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Sackett v. EPA: The End of Significant Nexus

The Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 21–454, 598 U.S. ___ (2023) (“Sackett”) may create some immediate opportunities for landowners and operators, likely leaves certain obligations unchanged, but certainly reverses course on seventeen years of defining the scope of federal control over water. Immediate Considerations for Landowners The most immediate opportunities…

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The EPA’s New Drinking Water Advisory Warns against Lower Levels of PFAS, and May Have Important Future Implications for PFAS Regulation

On June 15th, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) updated its drinking water lifetime Health Advisory Levels to include substantially lower levels of PFOA, PFOS, PFBS, and GenX chemicals.  The updated health advisory levels include: PFOA at 0.004 parts per trillion (ppt), PFOS at 0.02 ppt, PFBS at 2,000 ppt, and GenX Chemicals at…

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Highlights of New Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategies and Policies

In January of 2021, shortly after his inauguration, President Biden issued Executive Order 13985, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, emphasizing Environmental Justice or “EJ,” and requesting “comprehensive attention” to EJ issues by various federal agencies. In response to this Executive Order, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the U.S. Department of Justice…

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LRRP Rule Guidance Change Client Alert

Client Alert: EPA’s Renewed Enforcement Focus on Lead-Based Paint               Within a week of taking office, President Biden established environmental justice as a priority for his administration.[1]  This momentum has continued with the Biden administration consistently pushing environmental justice at the center of the federal government’s work.  Part of the Biden administration’s environmental justice goal…

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SEC Proposes Major Climate Disclosure Rule

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed a sweeping new climate-driven financial risk reporting rule titled “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.” The SEC unveiled the 510-page proposal on March 21, 2022. Comments are due thirty (30) days after the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register, or May 20,…

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Here We Grow Again!

KMCL is pleased to announce the addition of more top talent to our ranks—our newest member, Kate Hopkins, joined the firm as a Senior Associate in our Atlanta office last month. Kate comes to us from a major law firm where she focused her practice on environmental litigation and environmental issues in property transactions. She…

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