Speaking Sustainability

Introduction

On January 10, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of $100 million for two environmental justice (EJ) grant programs. This funding is provided through the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169; IRA) and builds on previous investments from the American Rescue Plan (P.L. 117-2; ARP). Specifically, the IRA provided $2.8 billion to the EPA through the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program to support community-led projects that:

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ or the “Department”) made way for the return of supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) as a tool to settle violations of federal environmental laws while delivering environmental benefits. SEPs return through an interim final rule and related Attorney General Memorandum that allow DOJ officials to enter into settlements providing payments to third parties in both civil and criminal enforcement actions, effective May 10, 2022 (although subject to a comment period that remains open through July 11, 2022). Coming five years after the Trump administration prohibited their use, these payments represent one facet of a multipronged approach to improve environmental enforcement efforts seeking to benefit marginalized communities.

Please note this post is an update to our April 28 post.

The Biden administration has made the deployment of solar energy a key component of its plans to battle climate change. From utilities to investors to installers, deploying solar energy at such a broad scale presents a number of new and exciting growth opportunities for companies and associations operating across numerous industries. Yet seizing on these opportunities also requires navigating potential risks. In particular, elements of U.S. trade policy potentially work at cross-purposes with the administration’s efforts to encourage the rapid deployment of solar energy.

Please click here to view our updated version of this blog post.

The Biden administration has made the deployment of solar energy a key component of its plans to battle climate change. From utilities to investors to installers, deploying solar energy at such a broad scale presents a number of new and exciting growth opportunities for companies and associations operating across numerous industries. Yet, seizing on these opportunities also requires navigating potential risks. In particular, elements of United States trade policy potentially work at cross-purposes with the administration’s efforts to encourage the rapid deployment of solar energy.

On April 8, 2022, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) solicited public comment on the agency’s 2022 Environmental Justice Strategy and Implementation Plan Draft Outline. In support of the Biden administration’s policy priorities related to environmental justice, the plan will identify priority actions and strategies to best address environmental injustices and health inequities for people of color and disadvantaged, vulnerable, low-income, marginalized and indigenous populations. These policy priorities mirror those of the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE), which HHS established in August 2021.

The Office of Climate Change and Health Equity

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently established the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE), reinforcing the Biden-Harris administration’s strong commitment to mitigating legacy damage from climate change and building resiliency for the future. Established in response to President Biden’s Executive Order in January, the office officially opened on August 1.

Akin Gump was pleased to recently host its inaugural global virtual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Summit. ESG leaders and Akin Gump lawyers and advisors shared their perspectives on a wide range of topics at the forefront of ESG—including key developments and risk factors for investors, companies and stakeholders both in the United States and internationally.

According to media reports, during last week’s annual Conference on Financial Market Regulation—hosted jointly by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Economic and Risk Analysis, Lehigh University and the University of Maryland—SEC Chair Gary Gensler announced that the SEC plans to propose a rule requiring public companies to provide certain human capital disclosures. These disclosures would include, among other things, workforce metrics relating to diversity, turnover rate and a breakdown of the number of full and part-time employees.