Public Policy and Regulation Blog®

On July 17, 2026, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a final significant set of revisions to regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA), continuing the Trump Administration's broader effort to reshape federal environmental regulation through a combination of deregulation, statutory reinterpretation, and reliance on the Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. The latest rulemaking follows several ESA actions proposed in late 2025 that sought...

One of the most valuable aspects of convening conversations on chemical law and policy is the opportunity to hear directly from those who helped shape the laws that continue to guide regulatory decision-making today. During the Environmental Law Institute’s recent TSCA at 10 event, co-hosted by Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, former U.S. Senator Tom Udall offered precisely that perspective. As one of the architects of...

Read Part 1: We Need Another Hero: Fossil Fuels Versus Renewable Energy Production -- Which Is the Alternative? (Part 1) Energy diversification cannot happen without substantial -- and well thought-out -- infrastructure investment. Electric vehicle (EV) adoption, industrial electrification, artificial intelligence (AI) data center expansion, and advanced manufacturing all require enormous amounts of reliable electricity and transmission capacity. Recognizing this challenge, the Biden...

For decades, energy policy debates in the United States have largely centered on a familiar tension: economic growth versus environmental protection. Today, however, that framing increasingly feels incomplete. Around the world, the transition toward electrification, advanced energy infrastructure, and diversified power systems are no longer being driven solely by desires to protect the planet. It is increasingly being driven by economics, industrial competitiveness, national security, and...

On April 27, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Monsanto Company v. Durnell, a closely watched case that could reshape the intersection of federal pesticide regulation and state tort law. At issue is whether failure to warn claims under state law, specifically those alleging that Roundup® (the trade name for herbicide products containing the active ingredient glyphosate) should carry a cancer warning, are preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act...

Concerns about microplastics and their effect on human and environmental health are no longer confined to academic literature or environmental advocacy. On April 6, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) elevated the issue in a way that makes it harder for the regulated community to address the issue of microplastics as largely academic or purely speculative. EPA has proposed to add microplastics, for the first time, as a...

Escalating tensions between the United States and Iran are reverberating far beyond the immediate theater of armed conflict. Energy markets have responded quickly, with oil and gas prices rising amid concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East. But as recent commentary underscores, this moment is not simply another geopolitical flashpoint. It reflects a deeper structural reality: the global economy is caught in a molting phase of an incomplete energy transition. Against this backdrop,...

Many residents of the Washington, D.C., area have spent some time in their careers as congressional employees, staff to a member of Congress (House or Senate), or staff members of the many committees of Congress on both sides of Capitol Hill. Put aside how many former staffers may comment on how much better the “old days” were, as Easter approaches, it is time to reflect on how much time, effectively, it has taken to enact legislation in this session of Congress. (Side note: For many, “old...

Recent geopolitical developments in the Middle East are reverberating far beyond the region, affecting global energy markets, fertilizer supply chains, and -- ultimately -- the economics of American agriculture. The turbulent and fluid situation illustrates how quickly foreign policy decisions and international conflicts can cascade through interconnected commodity markets, leaving U.S. farmers caught between rising input costs and volatile crop markets. Modern agriculture is deeply dependent on...

The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) recently released two new Interaction Profiles for Toxic Chemical Mixtures, continuing a long-running federal effort to better understand the health effects of exposures to combinations of hazardous substances rather than individual chemicals in isolation. The two new profiles evaluate mixtures commonly encountered in environmental and indoor air contexts: Chloroform, 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), and...