United States: Environmental Law

Verra has launched Version 1.0 of its Scope 3 Standard Program, introducing a new framework for quantifying, verifying, and certifying greenhouse gas emission reductions within corporate value chains. The program adapts existing Verified Carbon Standard methodologies to enable companies to measure and report value-chain decarbonization investments with greater certainty. As corporate accounting frameworks evolve and the GHG Protocol develops new guidance, this initiative could reshape how companies approach

California Governor Newsom signed seven data center bills into law on September 21, 2026, establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework that takes effect January 1, 2027. These bills create new tariff regimes administered by the California Public Utilities Commission, impose extensive reporting requirements on data center operators, and establish water disclosure mandates and CEQA treatment protocols.

A federal appeals court has struck down EPA's methylene chloride regulation under TSCA, fundamentally challenging the agency's approach to chemical risk evaluation and management. The unanimous Fifth Circuit decision vacates both the 2022 risk determination and 2024 rule, potentially forcing EPA to revise its methodology for assessing chemical risks across multiple substances. Will this landmark ruling reshape how EPA regulates toxic chemicals and impact pending challenges to other chemical management rules

Representatives Scott Peters and Mariannette Miller-Meeks have introduced legislation to formally authorize and strengthen the EPA's Safer Choice Program, which provides a voluntary framework for evaluating chemical safety in consumer products. The bill aims to establish permanent congressional authorization for a program that has operated for decades without formal legislative backing, while adding new protections and transparency measures.

September 21, 2026, the Washington Court of Appeals in Columbia Riverkeeper v. Pollution Control Hearings Board, (Wash. Ct. App. Sept. 21, 2026), largely upheld a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 water quality certification for the proposed Goldendale Energy Storage Project, a proposed 1,200-megawatt pumped-storage hydroelectric facility, but set aside the certification on one issue.

Directs federal agencies to expand hunting access on federal lands, authorize hunting in specified national monuments, revise regulations restricting recreational access...

California has filed suit against the EPA challenging its unprecedented reclassification of four long-standing Clean Air Act preemption waivers from adjudicatory orders to "rules" subject to Congressional Review Act scrutiny. A federal court recently granted California a preliminary injunction, rejecting EPA's authority to retroactively relabel these finalized actions and ordering restoration of their original status.

The Fifth Circuit's landmark decision in East Fork Enterprises v. EPA fundamentally reshapes how the agency must conduct chemical risk evaluations under TSCA, requiring condition-of-use-specific determinations and consideration of actual workplace protections. The ruling vacates EPA's methylene chloride risk management rule and establishes new standards for evaluating unreasonable risk that reject precautionary approaches and demand stronger evidentiary support. These holdings will force EPA to revise its p

A decade after the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act transformed toxic substances regulation, leading experts and advocates gather to assess its impact on public health protection and EPA implementation. This keynote conversation brings together Dr. Lynn R. Goldman, former Senator Tom Udall, and Bonnie Lautenberg to reflect on the law's evolution through four administrations and its ongoing challenges in addressing chemical safety.