Dear Section Members, I hope you and yours are well. As always, here is the news roundup. On Law 360<https://www.law360.com/environmental/news?page=1>: Calif. Sens. Urge Biden To Restore Vehicle Emission Power<https://www.law360.com/environmental/articles/1367280/calif-sens-urge-biden-to-restore-vehicle-emission-power>, March 22, 2021, California's two U.S. senators on Monday urged President Joe Biden to reverse the Trump administration's decision to strip the state of its power under the Clean Air Act to set its own vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla told Biden in a letter that the Clean Air Act allows the Golden State and states that follow it to set requirements for greenhouse gas emission standards and for zero-emission vehicles, as well as fuel economy standards, actions the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said can only be performed by the federal government under the Energy Policy Conservation Act. Calif. Appeals Court Limits Groundwater Pumping Rights<https://www.law360.com/environmental/articles/1365958/calif-appeals-court-limits-groundwater-pumping-rights>, March 17, 2021, California landowners who haven't been continuously pumping from a depleted groundwater basin have lower priority rights compared with entities that have continually pumped in recent decades, a California state appeals court has said in a first-of-its kind ruling. In a decades long and sprawling dispute over access to water in a Los Angeles area basin, California's Fifth Appellate District upheld two similar lower court determinations Tuesday that effectively bar nonpumping landowners from accessing their water rights when the underground water source is diminished beyond a certain degree, as it has been for roughly 60 years. On The National Law Review<http://www.natlawreview.com/practice-groups/Environment-Energy-EPA>: California Bill Would Require Climate-Related Financial Risk Reports<https://www.natlawreview.com/article/california-bill-would-require-climate-related-financial-risk-reports>, March 23, 2021, Earlier this month, I wrote about a California bill, SB 260, that would impose greenhouse gas emissions disclosure obligations on "publicly traded domestic corporations" and "publicly traded foreign corporations". That bill will is now set for hearing before the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on April 12. Pennsylvania Sued over Moratorium on Plastic Bag Bans<https://www.natlawreview.com/article/pennsylvania-sued-over-moratorium-plastic-bag-bans>, March 20, 2021, The City of Philadelphia-along with the City of West Chester, the Township of Lower Merion, and the Borough of Narberth-filed a lawsuit on March 3, 2021, in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, challenging the state's moratorium on municipal plastic bag bans. The plaintiffs argue that the measure pre-empting local plastic bans is unconstitutional for several reasons. For instance, the plaintiffs argue that the measure is unconstitutional since the Pennsylvania Constitution prevents the passage of bills, other than appropriation bills, containing more than one subject and requires the titles of bills to reference the subject matter. The Constitution also prohibits bills from being altered or amended as to change their original purpose and provides that "[t]he people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment." (See points 15 to 17 of City of Philadelphia et al. v. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania et al., Case No. 42 MD 2021, in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.) Biden EPA Moving Forward with National Drinking Water Regulations for PFOA and PFOS<https://www.natlawreview.com/article/biden-epa-moving-forward-national-drinking-water-regulations-pfoa-and-pfos>, March 18, 2021, Indicating its intention to move forward aggressively to address growing legacy chemical concerns, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in February took two steps towards regulating certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. First, the EPA re-proposed the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR5) to collect data on 29 PFAS in drinking water. Second, the agency reissued the final regulatory determinations for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), confirming that it will move forward to develop enforceable drinking water standards (Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs)) for those two legacy PFAS. The Future of Climate Change Risk Regulation for Insurers in America?<https://www.natlawreview.com/article/future-climate-change-risk-regulation-insurers-america>, March 12, 2021, In the few short weeks since our last report on climate change and the US insurance industry, the volume of climate change news has been extraordinarily high. The range of developments has been broad to say the very least-from fund managers announcing new offerings said to be green and sustainable, to critics denouncing fund managers falling short on sustainability, to Aviva, Citibank and Generali (and others) publishing sustainability achievements or new targets to achieve net-zero emissions, to advances by developers and providers of climate change standards and metrics (e.g., the Geneva Association, Moody's), to China reiterating goals to reduce its emissions over the next five years, to the politically charged debate within the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as to which comes first-a new global framework of common metrics and standards to help regulators analyze climate change risk disclosures or stepped-up enforcement efforts. And these are just a few examples. Migratory Bird Treaty Act Liability Rule Looks to Be Short-Lived<https://www.natlawreview.com/article/migratory-bird-treaty-act-liability-rule-looks-to-be-short-lived>, March 9, 2021, The Biden Administration is moving quickly to undo the Trump Administration's Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) liability rule. Published as a final rule on January 7, 2021, this rule for the first time supplied a uniform regulatory definition of the scope of liability under the Act. It interpreted the MBTA's prohibitions as applying only to actions that are "directed" at migratory birds, and not to actions that "incidentally take" them. On JD Supra Business Advisor Environmental Updates<http://www.jdsupra.com/law-news/environmental-law/>: LA County to Adopt Green Zone Ordinance, Environmental Justice Initiative<https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/la-county-to-adopt-green-zone-ordinance-4235927/>, March 22, 2021, Environmental justice is a principle that has been around since at least the 1990s, with roots back to the 1960s. The US EPA describes environmental justice as "the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." While environmental justice has been a concern for many decades, few laws have been put on the books to ensure environmental justice. Even California's much revered (and often cursed) Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") is limited in its reach to physical impacts on the environment-not social issues. The Natural Gas Industry in a Climate-Focused Future: Regulators Take Action to Adapt<https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-natural-gas-industry-in-a-climate-3109217/>, March 22, 2021, Climate change policies at the state and federal levels will have significant impacts on natural gas companies and their customers. On the one hand, there is pressure on companies to maintain safe and reliable service - on the other, the push for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. These competing objectives will have notable effects on how companies conduct their long-term planning to maintain system reliability while avoiding potential stranded costs and safeguarding ratepayers. This post and subsequent updates will focus on how federal and some state regulators are addressing the issues. FERC Modifies Water Quality Certification Waiver Period for Gas Projects<https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/ferc-modifies-water-quality-9606024/>, March 22, 2021, FERC issued a final rule on March 18 amending its regulations to establish a one-year period for state agencies or other certifying authorities to act on requests for water quality certifications required for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a natural gas pipeline or an authorization for an liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. Please tell me or the group if you have any questions or comments. 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