ESG Essentials Podcast

• Episode 19: Power Struggles: Federal vs. State Authority in Energy Law
  Focusing on a Trump Executive Order titled “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach," this episode explores the administration's call for federal action against localized energy laws and whether the Trump administration will join litigation challenging energy laws out of New York and Vermont. 
• Episode 18: The Reshaping of ESG & DEI
  ESG Co-Chairs David Colvin and Karen Davis discuss the Trump administration’s executive orders regarding DEI as well as the impact of the New York Climate Change Superfund Act.

Alerts

• The EPA’s New Funding Hurdles: What to Expect
  Documents reveal that all EPA directors must now obtain approval from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for any work valued at $50,000 or more.
• Tariffs and the Energy Industry: Navigating Market Uncertainty
  A Q&A with Partner Ben Snowden of our Energy & Natural Resources Practice.
• President Trump's EPA Administrator Unveils Agency's New Priorities
  Amid uncertainty over future staffing and funding levels, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a new priority list for the agency.
• EPA Tasked With Rethinking Its Mission Under Trump Executive Orders
  Four executive orders issued on Day One of the Trump Administration direct the EPA to immediately begin taking a series of sharp policy and administrative shifts.
• Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Orders Limiting DEI in Government and Business
  The injunction, issued by a federal district court in Maryland, is a significant development with immediate consequences for employers throughout the country.
• DOJ Targets Private-Sector DEI Programs: What Employers Need to Know
  The U.S. Department of Justice has set its sights on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, creating heightened enforcement risks for employers.
• Trump Transforms Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
  Employers should prepare for a rapid transformation of the EEOC’s enforcement priorities.
• Trio of Trump Executive Orders Take Aim at DEI and Gender Policies
  The Trump administration’s sweeping executive actions will directly impact private sector companies, including federal contractors and subcontractors.
• Acting DOL Secretary Halts Enforcement of Johnson-Era Executive Order
  All pending cases, conciliation agreements, investigations, complaints, and any other enforcement-related or investigative activity relating to EO 11246, which required federal contractors to establish affirmative action programs, have been closed.
• Trump Executive Order Pauses FCPA Enforcement
  Raising questions about the future of U.S. anti-corruption policy, President Trump has temporarily paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Blogs

• EPA’s FY 2027 Budget Signals Continued Focus on PFAS
  The agency has identified reducing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Risks to the Public as an Agency Priority Goal.
• EPA’s Rule Agenda Includes Multiple PFAS Initiatives
  EPA released its Unified Agenda which includes plans for a number of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulatory actions.
• EPA Proposes Significant Changes to the TSCA PFAS Reporting Rule That Would Expand Exemptions
• As foreshadowed in EPA’s most recent Unified Agenda, EPA has proposed to add four significant categories of exemptions to the TSCA PFAS Reporting Rule.
• PFAS Drinking Water Standards Litigation Paused Amid Government Shutdown; Briefing Scheduled for Hazardous Substance Designation Case
  Th U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted EPA’s unopposed motion to hold the PFAS drinking water standards litigation in abeyance due to the lapse in appropriations as a result of the government shutdown.
• New EPA Plan Delays PFAS Deadlines, Dials Back on Four Chemicals
  The agency will stick with strict limits on PFOA and PFOS but plans to rescind standards for four other PFAS while giving water systems until 2031 to comply.
• Reading Tea Leaves Regarding EPA’s PFAS Agenda Under Administrator Zeldin