Expert Analysis

• As Sackett Trims Feds' Wetlands Role, States May Step Up

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency extinguishes federal authority over many currently regulated wetlands — meaning that federal permits will no longer be required to discharge pollutants in affected areas, but also that state regulators may take a more active role, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

• How Fla. Tort Reform Will Shift Construction Defect Suits

  

  Recent modifications to Florida's private statutory action rules for building code violations and to the statute of limitations and repose for defect claims significantly clarify ambiguity that had existed under previous rules, and both claimants and defendants should consider new legal arguments that may become possible, say Ryan Soohoo and George Truitt at Cole Scott.

• The Nuts And Bolts Of IRS Domestic Content Tax Credit

  

  Recent IRS guidance provides specifics on how renewable energy projects can qualify for bonus tax credits by meeting U.S. domestic content rules, but also creates a qualification framework that will be complicated for project developers to navigate, say Scott Cockerham and Wolfram Pohl at Orrick.

• Biden's Enviro Justice Focus Brings New Business Risks

  

  A recent executive order from President Joe Biden continues the administration's whole-of-government approach toward environmental justice, and its focus on transparency may increase the risk of permit challenges, enforcement actions and citizen suits, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• EV Chargers Can Bring Benefits For Calif. Property Owners

  

  California property developers and owners face growing pressure to provide electric vehicle charging infrastructure — but this can be a unique opportunity to add value to real estate assets, and can be accomplished in multiple ways, say Riley Cutner-Orrantia and Eurie Hwang at Crosbie Gliner.

• Brownfield Renewables Guidance Leaves Site Eligibility Murky

  

  Recent IRS guidance sheds some light on the Inflation Reduction Act's incentives for renewable energy development on contaminated sites — but the eligibility of certain sites for brownfield status remains uncertain, say Megan Caldwell and Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.

• Water Infrastructure Crisis Requires Private Investment

  

  The federal government is in the process of distributing billions of dollars recently allocated for upgrades to U.S. water infrastructure — but capital, beyond what government can provide, is needed to fully address decades of neglect, meaning that private investment must be a part of the solution, says Damian Georgino at Womble Bond.

• Ambiguity In 'Buy America' Implementation May Slow Projects

  

  The White House Office of Management and Budget's most recent guidance, which builds on a complex patchwork of Buy America restrictions that vary by federal agency, would perpetuate government contractors' uncertainty regarding product and material classification and could delay infrastructure projects, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.

• La. Suit Could Set New Enviro Justice Litigation Paradigm

  

  Inclusive Louisiana v. St. James Parish, a lawsuit filed recently in Louisiana federal court that makes wide-ranging and novel constitutional and statutory claims of environmental racism based on centuries of local history, could become a new template for environmental justice litigation against governments and businesses, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• The Legal Consequences Of High PFAS Background Levels

  

  As federal and state regulations around per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances proliferate, emerging scientific literature is showing that PFAS exist in many environments at background levels that exceed regulatory limits — and the potential legal implications are profound, say Grant Gilezan and Paul Stewart at Dykema and Dylan Eberle at Geosyntec Consultants.

• IRS Green Energy Tax Credit Notice Provides Needed Clarity

  

  Recent IRS guidance clarifying how the government will determine energy community locations for purposes of bonus clean energy tax credits should help resolve risk allocation disagreements among financing parties and parties to merger and acquisition transactions, say Casey August and Paul Gordon at Morgan Lewis.

• How State Laws Are Taking On Clean Energy Project Protests

  

  By enacting legislation that streamlines siting and permitting for large-scale renewable energy infrastructure projects, states like Illinois, New York and California are keeping approval processes out of the reach of "not in my backyard" opponents and increasing the probability of meeting ambitious climate goals, says Bo Mahr at Husch Blackwell.

• Evaluating The Legal Standing Of Natural Elements

  

  Wednesday's observance of World Water Day invites questions about anthropocentric or ecocentric approaches to the rights of natural elements as thinking shifts about the legal standing of such resources, say Susan Lutzker at Lutzker & Lutzker and Thomas Wallentin at Kunz Wallentin.