Insights

Washington – October 6, 2022: Crowell & Moring counsel Monty Cooper has been elected a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (ABF). Cooper is a member of the Mass Tort, Product, and Consumer Litigation and Environment & Natural Resources groups.

Washington – August 23, 2022: The American Bar Association has appointed Crowell & Moring’s Monty Cooper to serve a three-year term as a member of the ABA’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources Council, the Section’s governing body. Representing more than 8,500 members including lawyers, advisors, law students, and decision-makers, the ABA-SEER provides a premier forum for dialogue and professional development in environmental law.

On April 19, 2024, EPA signed the highly anticipated final rule designating two types of PFAS as hazardous substances under section 102(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”).  At the same time, David M. Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance of the EPA, released an enforcement policy memorandum that provides “direction to all EPA enforcement and compliance staff about how EPA will exercise its enforcement discretion under CERCLA in matters involving PFAS, just as EPA exercises enforcement discretion regarding other hazardous substances.”  This alert summarizes key points from the enforcement policy and flags various uncertainties that lie ahead. 

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) just issued its new Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Policy, setting the stage for the new manner in which the agency manages its pollution investigations. David M. Uhlmann, the head of OECA, signed the Policy memorandum on April 17, 2024, in order to ensure that EPA’s civil and criminal enforcement offices collaborate efficiently and consistently in cases across the nation. The Policy states, “EPA must exercise enforcement discretion reasonably when deciding whether a particular matter warrants criminal, civil, or administrative enforcement. Criminal enforcement should be reserved for the most egregious violations.” 

On March 6, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to finalize a rule that requires regulated issuers to disclose information regarding their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other climate-related information. First proposed in 2022, the final rule has been scaled back in some significant ways from what was initially proposed. Notably, the final rule requires only large accelerated filers and non-exempted accelerated filers to disclose direct and energy-related (Scope 1 and 2)[1] GHGs—and only if such emissions are material to the business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition of a registrant—with no Scope 3 requirement to report on other indirect emissions (Scope 3). By comparison, the proposed rule would also have required Scope 1 and 2 emissions disclosures for all types of regulated entities regardless of materiality, and Scope 3 disclosures required of certain filers if material. The final rule reflects a heightened focus on materiality regarding disclosures of climate-related risks, and adjusts assurance requirements. It also extends the timing of GHG reporting, when required, to at least 2026 (for FY 2025 data) and phases in the assurance requirements. As soon as the SEC voted to finalize the rule, ten states (West Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Alaska, Indiana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wyoming) filed a petition for review in the Eleventh Circuit challenging the final rule.

Waterpower Week is the NHA’s annual conference for those in the North American hydro industry to focus specifically on the regulatory, policy, markets, and legislative aspects of their work. Cooper will speak on a panel titled, “Celebrating Diversity,” and will be joined by utility and trade-association representatives.

The National Bar Association (NBA) will host its 35th Annual Corporate Counsel Conference (CCC): “Turn Up the Heat,” February 24 - 26 in Miami, FL. Crowell & Moring will again be a sponsor for the conference. Over three days, the conference will provide, among other things, the general counsel roundtable, judicial panel, and an array of educational sessions, including its signature Law Firm Expo. Counsel Monty Cooper will moderate the panel titled “Recent Developments in ESG” on Thursday, February 24.

47 USC  230 (“Section 230”) was enacted as part of the United States Communications Decency Act (CDA), providing immunity to interactive computer service providers for third-party content. Known as “the 26 words that created the internet,” this statute is responsible for the development of the modern internet as we know it. While Section 230 has allowed online platforms—like major social media platforms and search engines—to flourish, the broad legal protections that Section 230 provides have become controversial. To no success, various members of Congress, the Presidential Administration, and political candidates have called for Section 230 reforms, and for the first time, the way in which we use the internet may change depending how the U.S. Supreme Court rules in a highly-anticipated Section 230 case this term. 

Please join a panel of Crowell & Moring’s Environmental and Natural Resources Group for a webinar as they conduct a review of recent federal and state government actions concerning environmental justice (“EJ”). 

Monty Cooper led an hour-long webinar presentation for the Industrial Minerals Association – North America (IMA-NA) as part of its “Workshop Webinar Series.” The presentation provided information regarding (1) comments made to the Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) in response to MSHA’s recent Request for Information concerning silica exposure for workers and (2) the potential for rulemaking concerning silica. The webinar had more than 40 registrants, including health-and-safety officials and in-house counsel from, among other companies, Halliburton, Imerys, U.S. Silica Co., Wyo-Ben, Inc., Solvay Chemicals, Inc., and 3M. 

Waterpower Week is the NHA’s annual conference for those in the North American hydro industry to focus specifically on the regulatory, policy, markets, and legislative aspects of their work. Cooper will speak on a panel titled, “Celebrating Diversity,” and will be joined by utility and trade-association representatives.