In The Legal's Energy/Environmental Law supplement read about important changes for Pennsylvania's agricultural development, cleaner energy and the use of brownfield sites as a home for solar fields in the state.

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (42 U.S.C. Section 11001 et seq., EPCRA) may not be as famous as the Clean Water Act or Clean Air Act, but EPCRA affects a large number of industries across the United States.

Only one part of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's policy statement known as the Green New Deal actually deals with the environment. Most of the statement seeks to promote more jobs-oriented policies such as infrastructure renewal, building weatherization projects, and the promotion of so-called “Buy Clean” laws.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of chemicals that have received a lot of regulatory, scientific and legal attention in recent years, and all indications are that this is just the beginning. To be sure, the lack of federal guidance and the patchwork of state regulations addressing these chemicals is problematic for the regulated community.

On June 19, the Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its Affordable Clean Energy rule (ACE rule), intending to put the final nail in the coffin of Obama-era attempts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Atlantic Richfield v. Christen (No. 17-1498), which is poised to be one of the court's most significant CERCLA (or Superfund) cases in recent years.

While solar markets in many other states have flourished, Pennsylvania has been left largely in the shade, with less than 1% of the commonwealth's electricity generated by solar.