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Law and the Environment

Our blog provides perspective on developments in environmental law and policy - which developments may matter to you, and how and why they matter. Whether you are a manufacturer or a power plant developer, a renewable energy developer or hoping to be a renewable energy consumer, this blog offers commentary on current issues that are important to your business.

Court Annuls New York’s Wetlands Regulations for Failure to Comply with SEQRA
Blog April 14, 2026
On April 8, 2026, Albany County Supreme Court Justice Richard M. Platkin made a splash when he annulled 6 NYCRR Part 664 – New York State’s wetlands permitting regulations promulgated under the 2022 adoption of amendments to New York State Environmental Conservation Law Article 24, the Freshwater Wetlands Act – in its entirety for noncompliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”)…
Massachusetts AGO Rejects Yet Another Municipal Solar and Battery Storage Moratorium
Blog March 13, 2026
On March 11, 2026, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (“AGO”) disapproved a proposed temporary zoning moratorium on large-scale solar installations and battery energy storage systems (“BESS”) in the Town of Blandford…
Wading Into New York’s 2025 NYS Wetlands Permitting Changes
Blog October 30, 2025
Over the last year, the New York State (“NYS”) wetlands permitting and statutory regime has been flooded with activity as the impacts of the 2022 statutory amendments ripple outward…
RGGI Third Program Review Concludes: New Model Rule and Strengthened Emission Caps Unveiled Amid Federal Scrutiny
Blog July 22, 2025
Earlier this month, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) announced the completion of the RGGI Third Program Review, which resulted in several major changes to the RGGI Model Rule that will shape the program through 2037…
Fusion Update: Proposed Federal Streamlining Rules are on the Way
Blog April 17, 2025
In April 2023, we reported on federal efforts to streamline fusion energy regulations. At that time, the Commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) voted to approve a proposal expected to accelerate the commercialization of fusion energy in the United States…
Department of Energy Announces $30M “SUPERHOT” Geothermal Research Program
Blog January 24, 2025
Given the favorable treatment of geothermal energy under President Trump’s initial Executive Orders, it will be interesting to see what happens to this move last week from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy…
A Fossil-Forward U.S. Energy Policy Begins to Take Shape under Trump
Blog January 23, 2025
President Trump began his second term by issuing a barrage of executive orders, memoranda, and other directives, many of which targeted U.S. energy policy and the federal employees who implement it…
World’s Largest Long-Duration Energy Storage Facility to be Developed in Lincoln, Maine
Blog August 06, 2024
Governor Janet Mills and Maine’s congressional delegation announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $147 million grant to develop the largest long-duration energy storage project in the world to date. The project will enhance grid resiliency, allow for the transmission of higher renewable energy loads, and advance the state’s progress toward its goal of 400 MW of energy storage installed by 2030…
How Brown is Brown Enough? An Update on the IRA ITC Adder for Brownfield Sites
Blog February 12, 2024
It is now almost 18 months since Congress enacted the Inflation Reduction Act. One of the IRA’s provisions was an adder to the ITC for renewable energy projects located in an “energy community." One way to be in an energy community is to be a brownfield.  The IRA defined a brownfield simply as a facility that meets the definition of a brownfield under CERCLA…
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ABOUT

In today’s fast changing world, almost all of us get our news – including our news about developments in environmental law and policy – electronically. This blog is not intended to be a substitute for the BNA™, or Greenwire™, or Google™, although we do hope that we will be able on occasion to let you know about issues that haven’t yet come to your attention.

What we really want to accomplish is to be able to provide some perspective on those developments. We’ll try to tell you which developments may matter to you. And why they matter. And how they matter. Whether you are a manufacturer or a power plant developer, whether you are a renewable energy developer or hoping to be a renewable energy consumer, whether you are a municipality or public agency or university, we want to comment on current issues in a way that is useful to you in your business.

Frankly, this blog also provides us with the opportunity to introduce you to Foley Hoag’s Environmental Practice Group. Our practice has been New England’s preeminent environmental practice for the past twenty years. We have the depth and capacity to handle the wide array of environmental issues that can arise in the course of your business. We will work with you to resolve any environmental issues that must be addressed in order for you to achieve your business goals – from permitting new projects to cost-effective cleanup of urban Brownfields properties to implementation of cost-effective due diligence in the support of acquisitions to navigating the emerging world of climate change regulations.

We will also assist you in the defense and prosecution of environmental litigation. As a result of our service to our clients, we have attained a national reputation in environmental matters. Our lawyers have built an impressive record resolving environmental disputes at the negotiating table and in the courtroom, and a number of our cases have produced precedents of national importance.

The scope of this blog will be commensurate with the scope of our practice. We’ll cover climate change, renewable energy, hazardous and solid waste, clean air and water, sustainability and green design. You name it, if it’s got an acronym attached to it, we’ll cover it.

As the headline indicates, we want to inform, update, comment, and discuss. In other words, while we’re going to enjoy posting, we’ll enjoy the blog more – and its usefulness will increase – if we hear from you also. Please comment on the blog entries. Let us know about developments we missed or implications of our discussions that we did not consider.

We look forward to the conversation.