In an unpublished opinion, Food & Water Watch; et al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, No. 25-384 (9th Cir. May 21, 2026), the Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded a district court ruling that had found the addition of fluoride to drinking water at 0.7 mg/L presents an unreasonable risk to human health under the…
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed two major revisions to federal environmental regulations affecting coal-fired power plants, signaling a significant shift in federal policy and a broader effort to support continued coal-based electricity generation. The proposed changes, announced in a pair of rulemakings in April and May 2026, will revise portions of the…
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In G.B. by & through G.P. v. United States Env’t Prot. Agency, No. 25-2473, 2026 WL 959839 (9th Cir. Apr. 9, 2026), the Ninth Circuit for the United States Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a constitutional challenge brought by a group of minors against the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and related federal entities. The…
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On February 19, 2026, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed Senate Bill 71 (Act 2026-81), a law that significantly changes how Alabama state agencies may adopt and enforce environmental regulations. The law establishes a federal ceiling for most environmental standards and introduces a heightened evidentiary threshold for regulating substances not currently addressed at the federal level….
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In Ex parte DuPont De Nemours, Inc., No. SC-2024-0514, 2025 WL 1009062 (Ala. Apr. 4, 2025), the Alabama Supreme Court granted mandamus relief to several PFAS-related defendants and limited the Water Works and Sewer Board of the City of Gadsden’s second lawsuit over PFAS contamination in the Coosa River. Gadsden Water previously sued a different…
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On January 9, 2026, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced that the agency will reassess the safety of paraquat, an herbicide that remains legal in the United States despite bans in other countries. The decision reflects renewed scrutiny of paraquat’s health risks, particularly its alleged connection to Parkinson’s disease, and it…
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In Skipper v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 796. F. Supp. 3d 996 (S.D. Ala. 2025), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama partially vacated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (“FWS”) critical habitat designation for the black pinesnake, offering guidance on how agencies must justify occupied habitats and evaluate economic…
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On November 10, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposal to significantly narrow the scope of its per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) reporting rule under Section 8(a)(7) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), just two years after finalizing the original rule in October 2023. The 2023 rule requires manufacturers, including importers,…
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On October 6, 2025, a group of plaintiffs filed suit against the EPA. Rhode Island AFL-CIO et. al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, No. 1:25-cv-00510 (D.R.I. filed Oct. 6, 2025). The Plaintiffs include the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, Rhode Island Center for Justice, Anh Nguyen, Solar United Neighbors, Sunpath Solar, 2KB Energy Services, Energy Independent…
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has reinstated the “emergency” affirmative defense under Title V of the Clean Air Act, reversing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) 2023 decision to remove it. For more than three decades, 40 C.F.R. § 70.6(g) allowed permit holders to assert a complete defense against liability when excess…
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