The Top-Ten Lower Court Decisions on Environmental Law
Don’t let the headlines deceive you. It’s not just the Supreme Court that shapes environmental law.
The Supreme Court tends to get all the attention, but for every Supreme Court opinion on environmental law there are probably fifty opinions in the lower federal courts. Collectively, the lower courts have done at least as much to shape the law as the Supreme Court’s occasional interventions. Any “top ten” list is a bit arbitrary. Given the sheer number of lower court cases, my selection will reflect chance – which lower court cases I happen to know the most ab...
CONTINUE READINGNew State Bill Targets Pollution from Aggregate Facilities
Guest contributors Mayahuel Hernandez and Ian Bertrando explain the air-quality benefits of SB 526, a bill they worked on with California State Sen. Caroline Menjivar.
The California Senate just took a critical step toward confronting unhealthy air quality in environmental justice communities through the introduction of a new Senate Bill 526. This proposed legislation aims to curb dangerous dust emissions from aggregate facilities in the South Coast Air Basin, where industrial pollution has long threatened public health and the environment. As students in UCLA Law’s California Environmental Legislation and Policy Clinic (Fall 202...
CONTINUE READINGCongress Lacks Authority to Review California’s Car Waiver
It’s a complicated issue but the answer is clear: the Congressional Review Act does not apply.
The Trump Administration has asked Congress to kill California’s current clean car and truck regulations. The process is a bit circuitous. Congress wouldn’t directly overturn the California regulations. Instead, Congress would overturn an EPA order that waives federal preemption of EPA’s regulations. The problem is that the statute which authorizes this kind of congressional action does not apply here. Although some previous posts have touched on the issue, it...
CONTINUE READINGNew Tools for Communities Seeking to Leverage Energy Infrastructure Projects for Community Priorities
Local action becomes even more important under a new federal regime
The Biden Administration placed substantial emphasis on community benefits mechanisms in federal climate infrastructure investments, building on years of legal and community advocacy work that laid the foundation for federal community engagement standards for project developers. With the Trump Administration taking a different approach at the federal level, the role of stakeholders at the local level becomes even more critical. Several recent publications and tools in th...
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Seven Most Anti-Environmental Moves — and How to Push Back
There were dozens of actions, all harmful to the environment. These are the worst of the worst.
At this point in Trump’s first term, Ann Carlson wrote a post entitled “Trump’s Environmental Assault Begins.” As expected, he’s gotten off to a much faster start this time. I had originally planned a post collecting all of Trump’s attacks on the environment in his first month. But there are just too many! Here are what I think are the most significant actions so far, and how to push back. Regulatory rollbacks. Trump set in motion agency efforts...
CONTINUE READINGWhy Isn’t Hydrofluoric Acid Banned at Oil Refineries?
The Torrance Refinery Action Alliance and Rep. Maxine Waters have renewed calls to ban hydrofluoric acid at SoCal refineries. Here’s why and how that could work.
On the morning of Feb. 18, 2015, pent-up gases at ExxonMobil’s refinery in Torrance triggered an explosion so powerful it registered as a magnitude 1.7 earthquake and sent industrial ash over entire neighborhoods. It’s been called the near-miss disaster that most people have never heard of. But that near miss is raising new calls to ban a toxic chemical that is still used in Torrance to this day. This past Saturday, Congresswoman Maxine Waters announced that she w...
CONTINUE READINGWhat can we learn from EU’s battery regulation?
New CLEE report with model policies to ensure a responsible EV battery supply chain
From cars and trucks to buses and trains, electric vehicles are playing an increasingly vital role in decarbonizing mobility and reducing oil dependence However, this transition brings with it a significant challenge: the immense pressure on battery supply chains. As demand for EVs increases, consumer countries will need to develop and implement policies that address the environmental and social impacts of the supply chain, while ensuring a stable supply of these transi...
CONTINUE READINGThe California Car Waiver and the Congressional Review Act
Trump has found a possible way to end run California’s legal arguments for the waiver. But there's no reason to give up.
The Biden Administration issued several EPA waivers allowing California to regulate vehicle emissions more strictly and increase use of electric vehicles. The Trump Administration has now reported them to Congress, which triggers possible congressional action under a statute called the Congressional Review Act (CRA). is especially egregious because the waivers clearly aren't covered by the CRA, which only applies to agency rules. A waiver for three specific state ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Trump Administration Is Trying an End Run Around Revoking California’s Car and Truck Rules
Zeldin’s actions face a major problem: the Congressional Review Act doesn't apply to California waivers.
Last Friday, EPA’s Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a new and unprecedented way to try to prevent California from implementing its ambitious program to move toward 100 percent zero emission vehicles. This time around, the Trump Administration is trying a new tactic. Rather than revoking EPA’s decision (called a waiver) to allow California’s program to move forward by using standard administrative procedures, as EPA did during Trump’s first term, Zeldin is try...
CONTINUE READINGAll the President’s Men
The people occupying environment and energy positions will be anti-regulatory and pro-fossil fuel.
As with any President, Trump's ability to achieve his agenda will depend on the people he's chosen to run the government. His energy and environment picks will follow the party line of expanding fossil fuels. Yet they may not be as extremist as their predecessors in the first Trump Administration or as some of Trump's current advisors. The Cast of Characters First, a quick introduction to the team of players. Lee Zeldin is the choice to head EPA. He’s a form...
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