Vermont and New York Climate Acts are First in a Wave of Likely Climate Change Cost Recovery Laws

On May 30, 2024, Vermont’s Republican governor, Phil Scott, allowed Vermont’s S 259 — also referred to as the “Climate Superfund Act” — to become law without his signature. The stated goal of this law is to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

(more…)

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Finalizes Next Set of Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards

On Friday, June 7, 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalized its corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for model years (MY) 2027 through 2032 passenger cars and light-duty trucks. The standards will push automakers to increase fleetwide fuel economy by approximately 2% each year, which is less aggressive than the 4% increase for light-duty trucks considered in NHTSA’s July 2023 proposed rule. Taken together, NHTSA predicts that the fleetwide average fuel economy across the industry will reach 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031, while increased upfront vehicle costs would offset lifetime fuel savings over time.

(more…)

White House Releases Plan to Advance Nuclear Reactor Technologies

On May 29, 2024, the Biden administration announced the creation of a Nuclear Power Project Management and Delivery working group (Working Group), which is intended to accelerate the deployment of cost-effective nuclear reactor technology. The Working Group will include members of the White House and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as well as other stakeholders, including project developers, engineering, procurement, and construction firms, utilities, investors, labor organizations, academics, and nongovernmental organizations.

(more…)

Twenty States Sue Biden Administration Over NEPA Phase 2 Revisions

On May 21, 2024, 20 states filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota against the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to block its Phase 2 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rulemaking.

(more…)

17 States File Complaint Challenging Constitutionality of California’s Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation

On May 13, 2024, 17 states filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California challenging California’s Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation.

(more…)

NHTSA Adopts Rule Requiring Automatic Emergency Braking on Light Vehicles

On May 9, 2024, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a final rule adopting a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) that requires automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems in U.S. light vehicles and trucks by September 2029. The rule is required under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 (BIL), in which Congress directed NHTSA to establish FMVSS requirements for AEB systems as well as three other Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS): lane departure warnings, lane-keeping assist, and forward collision warnings (FCW).

(more…)

The Enforcement Angle: New Generation of Nuclear – Advanced Reactors

Join Sidley for the Environmental Law Institute’s People Places Planet Podcast series, “The Enforcement Angle.” Through this series, Sidley lawyers discuss state and federal enforcement of environmental laws and regulations with senior enforcement officials and thought leaders on environmental enforcement in the United States and globally. The featured guests offer their insights into the challenging environmental issues facing corporations today.

(more…)

U.S. EPA Proposes Revisions to Project Emissions Accounting Under New Source Review

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing revisions to the New Source Review (NSR) permitting program that would make it more difficult to net out of NSR requirements by changing how to calculate the net emissions resulting from a facility modification. EPA also proposes to define the term “project” more narrowly to prevent sources from aggregating changes to net out of major NSR requirements. The proposal would revise reforms adopted only four years earlier during the Trump administration that had provided additional flexibility to sources making changes to their operations.

(more…)

Archives

Categories

Upcoming Events

Resources

 

Meet The Team

<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/b/boxerman-samuel-b">Samuel B. Boxerman</a>

Samuel B. Boxerman

Washington, D.C.
<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/b/brown-keturah-a">Keturah A. Brown</a>

Keturah A. Brown

Washington, D.C.
<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/d/dickson-gerbas-grace">Grace Dickson Gerbas</a>

Grace Dickson Gerbas

Dallas
<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/h/healey-terence-t">Terence T. Healey</a>

Terence T. Healey

Boston
<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/i/irvin-kenneth-w">Kenneth W. Irvin</a>

Kenneth W. Irvin

Washington, D.C.
<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/p/polito-christopher-j">Christopher J. Polito</a>

Christopher J. Polito

Washington, D.C.
<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/k/khan-casey">Casey Khan</a>

Casey Khan

Houston
<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/l/lisak-michael-l">Michael L. Lisak</a>

Michael L. Lisak

Chicago

<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/b/bolen-brittany-a">Brittany A. Bolen</a>

Brittany A. Bolen

Washington, D.C.
<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/h/hildebrandt-brooklyn">Brooklyn Hildebrandt</a>

Brooklyn Hildebrandt

Los Angeles
<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/n/noelliste-nicole-e">Nicole E. Noëlliste</a>

Nicole E. Noëlliste

Washington, D.C.
<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/p/posen-hannah">Hannah Posen</a>

Hannah Posen

Chicago
<a target=‘_blank’ href="https://www.sidley.com/en/people/r/raffetto-jack-c">Jack Raffetto</a>

Jack Raffetto

Washington, D.C.

SUBSCRIBE

To receive email alerts when we post a blog entry, please provide your name and email address.