The Nickel Report

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.

On November 20, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of the Army issued a notice of a proposed rulemaking to update the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act for consistency with the US Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency and to clarify key terms for implementation.

Producer associations launch Textile Renewal Alliance as a prospective PRO to implement California’s textile EPR law.

In 2025, California, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington proposed fashion accountability bills to impose environmental due diligence requirements on high-earning businesses in the fashion industry.

On October 2, EPA published the proposed effluent limitations guidelines (ELG) Deadline Extension Rule for the steam electric power generating industry, to revise a series of provisions from the 2024 ELG rule.