Regulations Listing: Environmental Sustainability

REGULATORY RADAR - Hawaii lawmakers passed legislation that bans skincare companies from selling and distributing sunscreens that contain chemicals which damage coral reefs. The bill makes Hawaii the first state to enact legislation designed to protect marine ecosystems.

REGULATORY RADAR - On July 18, 2018, Andrew Wheeler signed his first major regulatory move as acting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, rolling back coal ash storage legislation established by the Obama administration in 2015.

REGULATORY RADAR - San Francisco has become the next city to eliminate plastic straws through legislation passed by the city’s board of supervisors.

REGULATORY RADAR - On July 30, 2018, the Massachusetts Senate voted unanimously for an environmental bond bill that would allow the state to borrow up to $2.4 billion to protect its coast and communities from storms related to climate change.

REGULATORY RADAR - California became the first state to require publicly traded companies to include women on their boards of directors. On September 30, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation that will make companies with principal executive offices in California have at least one woman on their boards by the end of 2019.

REGULATORY RADAR - The recent North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) update includes environmental provisions related to sustainable forest management. The agreement builds on many of the environmental regulations that were included in the original 1993 agreement.

REGULATORY RADAR - On December 14, 2018, California passed a new regulation requiring that all transit buses purchased beginning in 2029 to be fully electric.

REGULATORY RADAR - After months of discussion, the United States passed a new $867 billion farm bill that allocates subsidies to American farmers, legalizes hemp, and maintains nutritional assistance benefits.

REGULATORY RADAR - On January 14, President Trump signed the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act, which provides local communities flexibility in prioritizing water infrastructure projects to meet requirements under the Clean Water Act.

REGULATORY RADAR - A new bill designating one million acres of land for public conservation has passed both houses of the U.S. Congress with bipartisan support.

REGULATORY RADAR - New York became the second state to mandate a state-wide ban on plastic bags with new legislation signed by Governor Cuomo on March 31, 2019 as part of a larger budget package.

REGULATORY RADAR - New Mexico’s Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed new energy legislation, the Energy Transition Act, calling for significant increases in renewable energy use by the state’s biggest utilities.