Insights

Washington – January 11, 2023: Crowell & Moring has published Litigation Forecast 2023: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know for the Coming Year. The 11th-annual Litigation Forecast focuses on trends in litigation that are playing out in specific jurisdictions around the globe. 

Washington, D.C. – June 16, 2015: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce the addition of partner Thomas A. Lorenzen to the firm's Environment & Natural Resources Group. Lorenzen joins the firm from Dorsey & Whitney LLP. Prior to re-entering private practice in 2013, Lorenzen served for a decade as an assistant chief in the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division, where he oversaw the government's legal defense of all Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules and regulations.

On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County. In a five-justice majority opinion written by Justice Kavanaugh, the Court held that the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) does not require review of the environmental impacts of “upstream” or “downstream” related projects, and reiterated: “The bedrock principle of judicial review in NEPA cases can be stated in a word: Deference.”[1] This decision comes as the federal government works to expedite what over the years have become lengthy NEPA review processes, and not long after the White House Council on Environmental Quality rescinded its NEPA regulations.

On April 20, the Biden Administration published final changes to the rules governing how federal agencies consider the environmental impacts of their proposed actions, returning to previous standards that required consideration of indirect and cumulative effects of a proposed action. Although the rule changes may appear minimal, encompassing modifications to two specific regulatory subsections and updates to two definitions, the changes could be significant in how agencies consider impacts on environmental justice communities or effects of climate change from proposed federal actions, including federal agency authorizations and approvals for energy, transportation, and other infrastructure projects. 

An administrative law judge ("ALJ") at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission held that a production-operator's responsibility for reporting a temporary employee's injury to MSHA on Form 7000-1 pursuant to 30 CFR § 50.20 was not discharged even though the injured miner's employer (the temp agency) had itself already reported the injury. The case is Dickenson-Russell Coal, VA 2009-430, decided January 16, 2013.

Washington, D.C.-based partner and steering committee member of the Environment & Natural Resources Group, Kirsten L. Nathanson, discusses a challenge to a federal rule cutting toxic emissions from power plants, which is one of the issues facing the Supreme Court this term. The federal rule in question limits toxic pollution, such as mercury, from coal- and oil-fired power plants, and is being appealed but 23 states and industry groups. Nathanson argues that, "The regulated community believes it was completely irrational and inappropriate for EPA to ignore the high cost," adding, "we will see if the Supreme Court latches onto it."

Washington, D.C.-based Environment & Natural Resources Group partner and steering committee member, Kirsten L. Nathanson, speaks with Law360 regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions last term upholding much of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's cross-state air pollution and greenhouse gas regulations. Nathanson notes that while this year's term doesn't have as many environment-specific cases, the non-environment cases of Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association and Nickols v. Mortgage Bankers Association would have an impact across federal agencies including the EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers, and others. "The key issue in the case involves an agency's ability to change its mind — and to change its mind on the interpretation of its own regulations, and to do so without having to go through notice and comment," Nathanson said.

The Household and Commercial Products Association’s (HCPA’s) Pesticide Regulation Workshop, organized, hosted, and co-presented by Crowell, is the oldest and largest annual event dedicated to pesticide regulation, compliance, and enforcement under federal and state pesticide laws. This year’s workshop will feature guest speakers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs and Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance and from the Natural Resources Defense Council. This year’s workshop will focus on practical information, including what companies need to know in order to get their pesticide products onto the market, keep them there, and avoid business disruptions and penalties. Knowledgeable and experienced presenters will cover the following topics:

As 2023 rolls in, what changes can government contractors expect? What will be the focus of the US Government? How should contractors prepare?

Partner Amanda Berman will be presenting the session "Regulatory Roulette: The State of Play Under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Other Major Environmental Statutes" at 10:45 am on Wednesday, March 24th.