As lithium-based batteries become more prevalent in everything from electric vehicles (EVs) to industrial-scale batteries, as well as e-scooters and personal electronics, more questions arise regarding how to properly manage and dispose or recycle them at the end of their lives. On May 24, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a memorandum titled “Lithium Battery Recycling Regulatory Status and Frequently Asked Questions,” clarifying how the EPA’s current hazardous waste regulations, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), apply to lithium batteries, and describing the handling requirements imposed on companies generating the waste batteries and recycling facilities ultimately receiving the waste batteries.

Continue Reading U.S. EPA Issues FAQ Memo on Lithium-Ion Battery Management Under RCRA

Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released two revised compensatory policies. The Mitigation Policy and the ESA Compensatory Mitigation Policy reject the stringent goal of net conservation gain used by the FWS during the Obama administration. Instead, both policies include the goal of no net loss, which means maintaining the current status of affected resources. While the policies are nonbinding, they will guide how the FWS evaluates compensatory mitigation in the context of incidental take permitting, conservation benefit agreements for candidate species, and ESA Section 7 consultation. Both policies do not apply retroactively to completed actions, but the FWS may elect to apply the Mitigation Policy’s principles to actions under review. Both policies continue to favor advance compensatory mitigation over other mitigation options.

Continue Reading Fish and Wildlife Service Revises Its Mitigation Policies

EPA’s long-promised rules for reducing CO2 emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants have now been published. In the proposal, EPA lays out “performance standards” for new natural gas-fired power plants and “emission guidelines” for states to use in developing standards for existing gas- and coal-fired power plants.

Continue Reading EPA’s New Carbon Standards for Power Plants Require Quick Decisions

In response to the transformational Inflation Reduction Act, Troutman Pepper has launched Taking Charge: Inside the U.S. Battery Boom, an in-depth report examining the accelerated growth in the U.S. battery storage sector.

We look at how the legislation is creating both opportunity and complexity, as businesses develop and adapt their strategies to navigate the industry’s substantial growth potential, as well as offering a summary of leading trends as we consider the future.

Read the full report.

EPA has proposed to establish “baseline” water quality standards that would apply to all Indian reservation waters where the tribe has not received “treatment as a state” (TAS) authority, the state does not have authority, and the federal government has not already promulgated water quality standards. Under the proposal, tribes will have a limited opportunity to request that certain waters be excluded from the federal baseline standards, but that decision will ultimately be made by the EPA regional administrator. If a tribe receives TAS, promulgates its own water quality standards, and obtains EPA approval of those standards, the federal baseline standards would no longer apply.

Continue Reading Another EPA Proposal to Overhaul the Water Quality Standards Program

*Chelsey Noble is a law clerk in the Richmond office and is not licensed to practice law in any jurisdiction.

In 2020, New Jersey enacted a first-of-its-kind environmental justice statute, the Environmental Justice Law (EJ Law). The EJ Law requires that permit applicants for certain water, waste, and air facilities located, wholly or partially, in overburdened communities prepare an environmental justice impact statement (EJIS) and engage in meaningful public participation. Significantly, the EJ Law included a provision requiring the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP) to deny a permit if a disproportionate impact on overburdened communities cannot be avoided.

Continue Reading New Jersey Moves Forward with Implementation of First-of-Its-Kind Environmental Justice Statute

*Chelsey Noble is a law clerk in the Richmond office and is not licensed to practice law in any jurisdiction.

On April 21, President Biden signed Executive Order No. 14096 (EO), titled “Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice For All.” The EO builds on prior executive orders by President Biden related to environmental justice, racial equity, and climate change, as well as on the original executive order on environmental justice issued in 1994 by President Clinton (Executive Order No. 12898). Overall, the EO establishes a stronger framework with specific milestones for implementing environmental justice across federal agencies. Below is a summary of the EO’s key provisions.

Continue Reading President Biden Signs Executive Order on Environmental Justice

With little fanfare, EPA has finally proposed to approve Louisiana’s Class VI underground injection control (UIC) well program. The proposal to approve Louisiana’s program comes nearly two years after the state submitted its package for consideration.

Continue Reading EPA Proposes Class VI Primacy Approval for Louisiana

On March 13, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took the long-anticipated step of proposing maximum contaminant level goals (MCLGs), as well as individual maximum contaminant levels (MCLs), for six PFAS compounds under the Safe Drinking Water Act. PFAS are a large family of synthetic chemicals that have been in use since the 1940s. Many PFAS have unique physical and chemical properties that make them highly stable and resistant to degradation in the environment, which is why they are sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals.”

Continue Reading EPA Advances PFAS Strategic Roadmap With Proposed Drinking Water Standards

On February 8, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed regulatory changes (Proposed Rule) focused on the application and approval process for Endangered Species Act (ESA) permits issued under Section 10. Section 10 of the ESA authorizes FWS to permit take of listed species where such take is necessary for scientific purposes or the enhancement of propagation or survival of the species, or where the take is incidental to an otherwise lawful activity. Section 10 permits are used for Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances and Safe Harbor Agreements, which are voluntary landowner agreements designed to benefit candidates or listed species, respectively. Section 10 permits also have been used to allow the take of listed species incidental to private development activities through a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), which involves the project proponent committing to certain conservation activities.

Continue Reading Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes New Section 10 Regulations Under the Endangered Species Act