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The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has launched a new national office tasked with enforcing EPA-related civil rights laws in disadvantaged communities and overseeing billions of dollars earmarked for environmental justice (“EJ”) from the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”).

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) represents one of the most sweeping pieces of climate policy legislation ever enacted in the United States.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (“PHMSA”) recently released the final rule in a rulemaking trilogy collectively known as the “Mega Rule” — a set of regulations designed to improve pipeline safety by reducing the frequency of pipeline failures.

Since 2021, the Administration has released several mapping tools addressing environmental and health impacts on environmental justice (“EJ”) communities.

On Sunday, August 7 the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the Act) as part of the FY 2022 Budget Reconciliation bill.

The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has recently finalized volumes for compliance years 2020, 2021, and 2022 under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”)’s renewable fuel standard (“RFS”) program and took several other related regulatory actions.

The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy (“the Strategy”) on May 5, 2022, pursuant to President Biden’s January 2021 Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.

A review of President Biden’s proposed Budget (“Budget”) for 2023 spotlights the enforcement priorities of the president’s Justice Department as the administration enters its third year. Vinson & Elkins’ review of the budget shows what the Biden administration is focused on and what that means for you and your company.

On March 28, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published its Final Strategic Plan (“Strategic Plan”) setting forth the agency’s priorities over the next four years based on seven strategic goals focused on the protection of the environment and human health.

On March 28, 2022, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) published notice (“Notice”) that it is undertaking a formal review of Nationwide Permit (“NWP”) 12, one of over 50 general permits available nationwide that allow for streamlined approval of certain categories of activities that may affect federally jurisdictional waters and wetlands when the effects are no more than minimal.

In his Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, released on January 27, 2021, President Biden directed the White House Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) to “create a geospatial Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and [to] annually publish interactive maps highlighting disadvantaged communities” in support of the Justice40 Initiative.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued two important policy statements by a 3-2 vote on February 18, 2022 regarding the construction of natural gas facilities.