Insights on Environmental

Oregon’s win in the first federal trial over a packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) law is a practical warning to companies facing the spread of EPR programs: courts may not treat complexity, cost, or multi-state compliance burdens as sufficient grounds to invalidate these laws.

On August 26, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied all petitions for review challenging the portion of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2024 framework rule for new chemical reviews addressing how persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals (PBTs) are evaluated for exemptions from the premanufacture notice (PMN) process under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

In a recent Federal Register notice, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is conducting a Section 610 review of its Formaldehyde Emission Standards for Composite Wood Products rule.

ArentFox Schiff is pleased to announce that 125 attorneys have been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America 2027, with two attorneys highlighted as “Lawyers of the Year” and 36 attorneys listed as “Ones to Watch.”

On August 18, the DC Circuit handed down its decision in Chamber of Commerce v. EPA, unanimously upholding the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) designation of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as “hazardous substances” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) — and in doing so, unlocked the law’s powerful enforcement tools against two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds.

The national race to build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is colliding with a stubborn local reality: strategically important projects have to be built somewhere.

Counsel Judah Prero was quoted on recent legal challenges to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval and registration of three new active pesticide ingredients that environmental groups say are harmful due to their designations as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

At the midpoint of 2026, the agriculture industry is navigating a complex and ever-changing legal landscape shaped by the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI), trade and capital-market uncertainty, regulatory reform, and other policy issues.

Counsel Judah Prero was quoted on the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce’s request to state regulators to delay reporting requirements for products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

The US data center sector is in the midst of a historic capital cycle as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and digital infrastructure demand pushes hyperscalers and colocation providers to commit capital at unprecedented scale.

On July 14, a California federal court granted a preliminary injunction blocking the California Attorney General from enforcing Senate Bill 343 (SB 343), a law regulating recyclability claims on products and packaging.

Businesses often focus on whether a regulation is lawful under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), an inquiry that traditionally turns on whether an agency action is arbitrary and capricious. Recent US Supreme Court decisions suggest a different question may come first: whether courts ever reach that analysis at all.

The US Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County endorsed a narrower vision of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), focused on informing agency decisions rather than producing exhaustive analyses of indirect, cumulative, or policy-related impacts.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released its proposed Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 6), which would establish the parameters that water systems must monitor.

While it may seem like there are fewer calls of late to “electrify everything,” the legal debate over whether “gas bans” — local ordinances that prohibit use of fossil fuel-powered appliances in new construction — continues.

ArentFox Schiff partners Amy Antoniolli and Robert Middleton will speak at the Illinois Solar Energy & Storage Association’s (ISEA) Business Member Webinar: CRGA Trailer Bill & Regulatory Proceedings Update on July 9, 2026.

Products and packaging manufactured for sale or distribution in California after October 4 must either meet recyclability criteria or remove recyclability claims, including the popular “chasing arrows” symbol.

On June 24, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced that it is planning to delay the first-year reporting deadline for Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under SB 253 (the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) from August 10 to November 10.

State policymakers are recalibrating how they regulate and incentivize data center development.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and US Department of Defense have stalled project reviews.

ArentFox Schiff is pleased to announce that 68 attorneys were recognized as leaders in their field and 25 practices spanning the firm’s litigation, regulatory, and transactional capabilities, as well as key industries, were ranked among the best in the country in the 2026 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

On May 28, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule that reinstates the longstanding emergency affirmative defense provision under the Clean Air Act’s Title V operating permit programs (the “Emergency AD” rule).

In a recent win for renewable energy developers, the Michigan Court of Appeals confirmed that Michigan law prohibits local governments from imposing requirements on wind, solar, and energy storage projects more restrictive than state law.

Sustainability reports have become a routine part of corporate disclosures for many US companies, even though no single federal law requires them.

A Will County circuit court ordered the county board to issue permits for six solar energy projects in one of the first decisions applying last month’s landmark Equity Solar appellate ruling.