Laws & Regulations

"Could the [Fort Meyers] region have been spared some of the damage with more aggressive planning and zoning? “Yes,” planners and resilience experts say. Sound land use planning builds stronger communities — physically, socially and politically. Yet Florida lawmakers effectively killed the state’s ability to check urban sprawl a decade ago with the passage of a reform measure called the 2011 Community Planning Act."

"The crystal-clear waters of the oceans surrounding Panama hold wealth beyond the abundance of fish. Legal gaps and flexibility in some of the regulations governing fishing activity have become the ideal bait, attracting companies from all over the world that seek to benefit by keeping some of their business deals in the shadows."

"Chemical companies are dodging a federal law designed to track how many PFAS “forever chemicals” their plants are discharging into the environment by exploiting a loophole created in the Trump administration’s final months, a new analysis of federal records has found."

"Less than six months after rejecting a proposal for a major desalination plant in Huntington Beach, the California Coastal Commission on Thursday approved plans for a different, smaller project in Orange County that could serve as a model for future projects."

"The state Departments of Environmental Quality and Health may be violating federal civil rights laws and regulations by allowing Black people to suffer disproportionate impacts from air pollution in Louisiana's industrial corridor, including an increased risk of cancer, the federal Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday."

"Maine lobster fishermen have hired a former high-ranking U.S. Department of Justice official to represent them in their case against new laws intended to protect whales."

"Climate advocates are optimistic that the Biden administration will take their side after the Supreme Court on Oct. 3 invited the Justice Department to share its views in a long-simmering procedural fight that could sink nearly two dozen lawsuits asking oil and gas companies to pay up for the effects of a warming planet."

"Study finds chemical companies dodging federal law designed to track how many PFAS plants are pumping into environment".

"Chemical companies are dodging a federal law designed to track how many PFAS “forever chemicals” their plants are discharging into the environment by exploiting a loophole created in the Trump administration’s final months, a new analysis of federal records has found.

"President Biden traveled to Colorado on Wednesday to designate a World War II-era military site as a national monument, using his executive powers to protect the historic landscape and delivering on a key priority for Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.) ahead of next month’s midterm elections."

"The industry’s ballot push to roll back newly enacted safety zones would delay implementation for nearly two years, until voters decide the law’s fate in 2024."