The Nickel Report

EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) recently announced a major shift in the agency’s approach to environmental enforcement, emphasizing swift, efficient achievement of compliance over punitive or expansive enforcement measures. The “Reinforcing a ‘Compliance First’ Orientation for Compliance Assurance and Civil Enforcement Activities” memo (not publicly available as of this writing) clarifies that EPA’s primary goal is to ensure compliance with federal environmental laws using the most defensible and clear interpretations of statutory or regulatory mandates, thereby reducing ambiguity and regulatory uncertainty to industry’s benefit. The memo has implications for future compliance and enforcement activity as well as ongoing cases.

In recent months, some companies have begun reconsidering their sustainability targets. This trend is influenced by a range of factors, including economic pressures and scrutiny of climate action by the current federal administration and state attorneys general. In addition, many companies with interim decarbonization goals (e.g., companies with “net zero by 2050 goals” that also set 2030 targets) are finding they are not on track to meet them. When considering revising or abandoning existing goals, it is important to consider emerging risks under the current legal landscape, and to develop and follow a deliberate strategy to mitigate those risks.

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.

Last week marked the close of the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Belém, Brazil. COP30, billed by some as the COP of “truth” or “implementation,” sought to advance key issues tied to the climate goals established under the Paris Agreement, now ten years in effect. Below is an overview of the most notable developments from Belém and the emerging expectations for future climate action. 

For companies assessing their compliance obligations under California’s climate disclosure laws, the whirlwind of legal developments, shifting implementation guidance from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and uncertainty about the laws’ applicability and substantive compliance obligations continues to present challenges.

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.

On November 10, 2025, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a pre-publication copy of its proposed rule to significantly reduce the scope of PFAS reporting under Section 8(a)(7) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Significantly, EPA’s proposal would exempt imported articles from reporting. Once the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register, it will be subject to a 45-day comment period.