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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.

There's No Such Thing as "Cost" analysis or "Benefit" analysis; There's Only Cost-Benefit Analysis
Blog January 14, 2026
There's No Such Thing as "Cost" Analysis or "Benefit" Analysis; There's Only Cost-Benefit Analysis
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration plans to stop assigning dollar values to the human health benefits resulting from the imposition of national ambient air quality standards…
Superfund May Be Fundamentally Broken, But That Doesn't Mean that It Can't Be Improved
Blog July 02, 2025
Superfund May Be Fundamentally Broken, But That Doesn't Mean that It Can't Be Improved
Followers of this blog will know that I am not a fan of CERCLA. It is not merely because CERCLA is so poorly drafted…
Can Cumulative Impact Analysis Improve Cost-Benefit Analysis?
Blog October 19, 2022
Can Cumulative Impact Analysis Improve Cost-Benefit Analysis?
As frequent readers know, I am a big fan of cost-benefit analysis.  The basic idea is that, when we make a decision to regulate at a certain level, we are by definition deciding that regulating to that level is “worth” the costs that the regulation will impose.  We might as well make such calculations explicitly.  However, that doesn't mean that CBA cannot consider the distributional impacts of federal regulations…
Will We Ever Stop Overestimating the Cost of Complying with Environmental Regulations?
Blog November 12, 2021
Will We Ever Stop Overestimating the Cost of Complying with Environmental Regulations?
Earlier this week, Greenwire (subscription required) had an interesting story about the role that EPA's estimate of the cost to comply with the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule played in the politics and judicial review of the rule.  It turned out that compliance costs were much less than originally estimated by EPA – let alone by industry.  Unfortunately, the $9.6 billion price tag originally put on the MATS rule lived on…
EPA's New Cost-Benefit Rule - Are Both Sides Misrepresenting What It Says?
Blog June 08, 2020
EPA's New Cost-Benefit Rule - Are Both Sides Misrepresenting What It Says?
Last week, EPA released its proposed rule regarding Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Benefits and Costs in the Clean Air Act Rulemaking Process.  As much as I hate to give aid and comfort to this Administration, I have to say that the rule does not herald the end of western civilization.  The biggest controversy surrounding the rule is its impact on consideration of “co-benefits”…
Injunctive Relief Is Available Outside the Fenceline
Blog October 01, 2019
Injunctive Relief Is Available Outside the Fenceline
On Monday, District Judge Rodney Sippel ordered sweeping injunctive relief against Ameren Missouri, intended to remedy violations of PSD requirements he had previously identified resulting from upgrades to the Ameren Missouri Rush Island generating plant.  Notwithstanding the lengthy opinion, most of the Court's findings are fairly plain vanilla.  Basically, Judge Sippel ordered Ameren Missouri to submit a PSD permit application and he ruled that BACT for control of SO2 emissions at Rush……
Internalize Externalities. How Difficult Can That Be?
Blog November 19, 2018
Internalize Externalities. How Difficult Can That Be?
Being a poor country environmental lawyer, I don't often delve into the academic world.  I therefore just recently caught up to the article written last year by my friend Dan Esty.  Red Lights to Green Lights:  From 20th Century Environmental Regulation to 21st Century Sustainability, is a wonderful synthesis of a lot of work on how to build a better regulatory mousetrap. The title does not exactly roll off the tongue…
Its the Externalities, Stupid.
Blog October 24, 2017
Its the Externalities, Stupid.
Last week, the Lancet Commission on pollution and public health (free registration required) released a study on the annual costs of pollution.  There's bound to be argument about the specifics, but it's difficult to argue with the conclusion that those costs are really, really, big.  The study estimates the annual global welfare loss due to pollution at $4 trillion $6 trillion.  The Lancet says that this is more than 6% of global economic output…
Trumps 2 for 1 EO: Can You Say Arbitrary and Capricious?
Blog June 06, 2017
Trumps 2 for 1 EO: Can You Say Arbitrary and Capricious?
On Monday, on behalf of our client, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Foley Hoag filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs in the case challenging President Trumps Executive Order 13771, the so-called 2 for 1 EO.  One paragraph from the brief pretty much summarizes the argument: It is important to note, as Executive Order 13771 acknowledges, that agencies are already required…
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Blog Editors

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.

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