The Nickel Report

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has recently published guidance that addresses data center backup power and what constitutes an “emergency” justifying the use of emergency generators.

As we approach the new year, several regulatory initiatives concerning hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are on the horizon with major implications to the retail industry with particular impact on the retail food industry. Since ozone depleting substances were phased out of the economy beginning in the 1990s, HFCs have been the most commonly used refrigerant in air conditioning and refrigeration appliances. Now EPA is phasing these refrigerants down based on their global warming potential (GWP).

On November 21, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service published four proposed rules to amend the Endangered Species Act implementing regulations. Generally, the Services propose to reinstate language from the first Trump Administration’s 2019 regulations in provisions concerning interagency section 7 consultation, criteria for listing species and designating critical habitat, protections for threatened species, and exclusions from critical habitat designation.

Despite broad shifts in enforcement priorities across the federal government, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to pursue aggressive enforcement of Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) violations. Actions taken by EPA in 2025 to date demonstrate sustained TSCA enforcement, including with respect to chemical regulations and particularly chemical data reporting requirements. Environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are also utilizing TSCA’s Section 20 citizen suit authority to bring lawsuits against companies over alleged reporting noncompliance as well. Chemical manufacturers and importers should stay apprised of these enforcement trends and proactively manage their TSCA compliance strategies to reduce enforcement and litigation risk.