The 2025 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature convened April 14, 2025, and adjourned June 12, 2025. The first regular session of the new term saw legislation on several hot-button issues, including 944 bills (696 in the House/248 in the Senate), 24 constitutional amendments, and 751 resolutions and study requests. For fiscal year 2025-2026, the
Nearing the end of the 2025 Regular Legislative Session, on June 11, 2025, the Louisiana Legislature passed Senate Bill No. 244 (“SB 244”), which brings significant changes to Louisiana’s oilfield site remediation statute, commonly known as “Act 312” (found at La. R.S. § 30:29). Act 312 applies to cases where environmental damage is alleged from historical
On May 21, 2025, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (“LDEQ” or “the Department”) officially approved the use of unmanned aircraft systems (“UAS”), or drones, for visual inspections of aboveground storage tanks under LAC 33:III.2103.D.2.e.[1]
LDEQ estimated a potential $4 million in annual savings for the Louisiana aboveground storage tank community by reducing the
It seems that the death of Chevron deference was not the end of agency deference. Almost a year after striking down Chevron deference, today the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on the role of judicial deference towards an agency’s fact and scope determinations. In an opinion penned by Justice Kavanaugh, the U.S. Supreme Court
While environmental justice initiatives may have experienced a recent administrative curtailment at the direction of the executive branch,[1] recent litigation trends show that EJ-related issues are far from moot. On Wednesday, April 9, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the District Court’s dismissal of Appellants’ EJ-related claims regarding
On March 12, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced its deregulatory agenda.[1] Although most of the 31 actions identified by the EPA will require formal notice and comment rulemaking, with litigation ensuing, Wednesday’s announcement makes good on the Trump Administration’s promises to roll back environmental regulation.[2]
Of particular significance to the
A pair of recent decisions from the US Supreme Court and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals signals a trend by the judiciary to closely scrutinize agency rulings where, in the past, courts have traditionally maintained a laissez-faire approach.
In Ohio v. EPA, the Supreme Court ruled that an agency action qualifies as arbitrary
Late last month, the U.S. Eastern District of New York dismissed a suit by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) against eBay claiming that it sold products that are prohibited under federal environmental statutes.[1] The Court held that eBay is not a “seller” of prohibited products under either the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) or
The 2024 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature ended on June 3, 2024. The first regular session of the new term saw legislation on several hot-button issues, including criminal justice reform, reorganization of state governmental entities, insurance reform, education, public access to government records, public libraries, protection of the Louisiana seafood industry, and improvements to
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo[1] definitively overturned Chevron deference[2], and held that, when reviewing agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act, courts “must exercise their independent judgment” and “may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because a statute