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Climate Change Law & Policy Reporter

February 2021

Volume 1, Number 5 February 2021

FEATURE ARTICLE

153

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS

President Biden Issues Major Executive Orders on Climate Change157

Criminal Charges Filed against Former Michigan Governor Stemming from Flint Drinking Water Crisis158

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Convenes Industry Leaders into Climate and Sustainability Consortium159

CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENCE

Recent Scientific Studies on Climate Change161

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

U.S. EPA Finalizes Greenhouse Gas Emissions Regulations for Aircraft Engines164

U.S. EPA Publishes the Clean Air Act Cost-Benefit Rule Amidst Opposition and the End of the Trump Administration165

U.S. EPA Finalizes Guidance on Implementation of U.S. Supreme Court’s ‘Functional Equivalent’ CWA Test in County of Maui Case167

PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS

Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions169

RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

Circuit Court of Appeals:

Ninth Circuit Reject’s District Court Holding

that Environmental Assessment and Finding of

No Significant Impact for Road Project Violated

NEPA175

Bair v. California Department of Transportation, 982 F.3d 569 (9th Cir. 2020).

Ninth Circuit Finds Federal Agencies Violated NEPA and Endangered Species Act in Approving Offshore Oil Facility177

Center for Biological Diversity v. Bernhardt, 982 F.3d 723 (9th Cir. 2020).

Eleventh Circuit Finds Mere Allegations of a Hydrological Connection are Insufficient for a Criminal Conviction under the Clean Water Act179

United States v. Coleman, Unpub., Case No. 19-15127 (11th Cir. Dec 21, 2020).

District Court:

Monsanto PCB Clean Water Act Class Action Settlement Rejected by the District Court180

City of Long Beach v. Monsanto Company, et al., ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. CV 16-3493 FMO (C.D. Cal. Nov. 25, 2020).