Environmental and Energy Law Update
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On September 15, 2026, Governor Janet Mills announced that Phil Bartlett will step down as Chair of the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC)...
This is the third in a series of Verrill blog posts on Maine’s packaging extended producer responsibility (“EPR”) law[1]. In July we reported...
In December 2024, Verrill published a blog post, Unwrapping Maine's Gift to the Environment: A New Packaging Stewardship Program Set to Launch in...
In United States v. EES Coke Battery LLC, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan found three parent corporations...
Four Massachusetts[1] waste handlers recently learned that when it rains, it pours, when they agreed to pay the Environmental Protection Agency...
Wetlands permitting disputes resolved in the last year provide stark reminders and cautionary tales about Conservation Commission authority. The...
Since my December 2 blog post on the Act Promoting a Clean Energy Grid, Advancing Equity and Protecting Rate Payers, the Department of Energy...
On August 20, 2025, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, among several other state attorneys general, testified in opposition to the...
Maine just launched a new cabinet-level energy policy office. Last month, Governor Janet Mills signed LD 1270 into law, creating the new Maine...
On February 18, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14215 “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies,” Section 7 of which provides that:...
The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry issued final rules on Permitting Solar Energy Developments on High Value-Agricultural...
On the first day of his Presidency, among 26 other Executive Orders that day, Donald Trump issued his Unleashing American Energy Executive Order...
On January 14, 2025, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) issued a new Maine Construction General Permit (“MCGP”). The...
Despite having over 130 years of collective environmental law experience, Verrill’s environmental group is very cautious in making predictions...
The state’s highest court has affirmed the Legislature’s power to force towns to adopt denser, transit-friendly zoning. In 2021, the...
Beginning in May of 2026,[1] owners of brands selling packaged products and importers of foreign-produced packaged products sold in Maine will be...
On December 5, 2024, Governor Janet Mills announced her intent to nominate former state senator and representative Heather Sanborn to serve as the...
On November 20, 2024, Governor Maura Healey signed the Massachusetts Leads Act, engrossing House Bill 5100 (the “MA Leads Act”), which, among...
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) often uses civil penalties to punish environmental violators. The EPA can either pursue...
While the SCOTUS’s Loper Bright Enterprises et al. (Loper) decision reversing Chevron was a win for those seeking to rein in the administrative...
The Maine PUC has recently opened two related dockets that will significantly impact the renewable energy industry. The first, Docket No. 2024-00137,...
As our understanding of the environment and anthropogenic impact grows, protection efforts increasingly spawn regulation. Media coverage of perceived...
In a groundbreaking move, effective July 1, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection will tighten the permitting requirement for...
Town Meetings across Massachusetts are voting on zoning bylaws that would encourage multi-family housing. According to Section 3A of the Zoning Act,...
In my October 2023 blog post about “The Plastics Problem in Massachusetts,” I noted that environmental and some mainstream groups have been...
On April 10, 2024, after receiving nearly 122,000 comments on the proposed rule, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”)...
Chapter 91 of the Massachusetts General Laws, otherwise known as the Public Waterfront Act, is the primary law protecting the public’s rights to...
When working with my colleagues on real estate and corporate business transactions, I feel like I can be a nay-sayer, bringing up the considerations...
Last month, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) extended the comment period for amendments it proposed in December...
Last April, we reported that the Attorney General was set to enforce municipal compliance with denser, transit-friendly zoning requirements. Now that...
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The Environmental and Energy Law Update blog provides an analysis and discussion of the most critical and timely legal issues and announcements in the environmental, natural resource, and energy sectors.
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Verrill’s Natural Resources and Energy law practice group has a wealth of industry-leading experience in environmental and land-use permitting, public utility regulation, and complex energy infrastructure transactions.
We established the Environmental and Energy Law Update to keep our clients, policymakers, industry professionals, and non-profit organizations informed of recent developments affecting the energy and natural resources sectors. Our goal is to provide carefully selected content, including analysis and discussion of the most critical and timely legal issues and announcements pertaining to the environment, natural resources, and energy.