United States: Energy and Natural Resources

Determines that domestic petroleum production, refining and logistics capacity are essential to national defense and waives statutory requirements under Section 303 of the Defense Production Act (DPA; P.L. 81-774) to accelerate capacity expansion, authorizing the Secretary of War to make purchases, commitments and provide financial support for related projects.

Battery energy storage system (BESS) developers face complex legal and regulatory challenges when selecting sites in New York and New Jersey. From zoning compliance and fire safety requirements to noise mitigation and interconnection feasibility, successful BESS site selection requires coordinated real estate, engineering, and regulatory analysis before property acquisition.

Data center development faces unprecedented challenges as AI infrastructure demand surges while power constraints, regulatory complexity, and community scrutiny intensify.

The United States faces unprecedented challenges in securing domestic supplies of critical minerals essential to national security, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. As global demand surges and geopolitical tensions reshape international trade relationships, innovative technologies are emerging to unlock domestic sources, improve refining efficiency, and transform industrial waste into valuable feedstocks.

The United States and Colombia have signed two bilateral agreements establishing frameworks for cooperation in critical minerals development and civil nuclear energy. These arrangements create potential opportunities for investment and collaboration in mining, energy infrastructure, and advanced technologies across the region.

On September 30, 2026, Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee Chair Mike Lee (R-UT), and Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-NM) unveiled the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (BAAJA; S. 5653), a comprehensive permitting reform package aimed at accelerating approvals for energy, infrastructure, transmission, mining, manufacturing, and other major projects. The legislation represents the most significant bipartisan permitting reform effort in years and follows months of negotiations between Senate Republicans and Democrats.

A federal district court dismissed Michigan's antitrust lawsuit against major energy companies and the American Petroleum Institute, which alleged a decades-long conspiracy to suppress renewable energy competition. The court found that the state failed to establish the requisite antitrust standing, determining that the causal chain between the alleged conspiracy and claimed injuries was too attenuated and that Michigan's residents were predominantly indirect purchasers under the Illinois Brick doctrine.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office plans to award up to $60 million for projects that expand domestic energy production through innovative chemicals, fertilizers, fuels, and feedstock technologies. The funding opportunity will focus on three key areas: biointermediate depots, refinery integration with alternative feedstocks, and hydrogen/natural gas blending pilot sites. Applications are expected to open in November 2026 for research, development, and scale-up projects l

Determines that domestic petroleum production, refining and logistics capacity are essential to national defense and waives statutory requirements under Section 303 of the Defense Production Act (DPA; P.L. 81-774) to accelerate capacity expansion, authorizing the Secretary of War to make purchases, commitments and provide financial support for related projects.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office plans to award up to $60 million for projects that expand domestic energy production through innovative chemicals, fertilizers, fuels, and feedstock technologies. The funding opportunity will focus on three key areas: biointermediate depots, refinery integration with alternative feedstocks, and hydrogen/natural gas blending pilot sites. Applications are expected to open in November 2026 for research, development, and scale-up projects l

The EPA has released draft risk evaluations for trans-1,2-dichloroethylene and 1,2-dichloropropane under TSCA, identifying unreasonable risks to workers and consumers from various exposure pathways. However, the recent Fifth Circuit decision in East Fork Enterprises v. EPA, which vacated EPA's methylene chloride rule and risk determination, casts significant uncertainty over the agency's ability to complete these and other pending risk evaluations by the February 2027 consent decree deadline while ensuring

The European Commission's 2020 enforcement action against ethylene purchasers for coordinating buy-side pricing strategies has triggered over €10 billion in follow-on damages claims and raised fundamental questions about the legality of competitor collaborations in the chemicals industry. While naked buyer cartels remain per se illegal, this analysis examines why the ancillary restraints doctrine should protect legitimate industry collaborations—including product swaps, joint purchasing agreemen