Alabama's First Environmental Justice Summit

Governor Greg Abbott has ordered the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to immediately halt all environmental permits for data center projects, expanding a statewide regulatory freeze that now encompasses power, water, and environmental approvals. This directive establishes strict operational mandates requiring data centers to fully fund infrastructure costs, report all resource consumption...

Governor Abbott has ordered Texas environmental regulators to halt all data center permit issuance until grid operators complete a comprehensive audit in mid-December 2026. The sweeping directive affects not only grid-connected facilities but also fully islanded data centers relying on behind-the-meter generation, creating uncertainty for developers and their contractual obligations.

California's Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) establishes a November 10, 2026 deadline for Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions reporting, affecting U.S.-formed entities with over $1 billion in revenue that meet California's "doing business" test—regardless of physical presence in the state. The law carries penalties up to $500,000 per reporting year for non-compliance, with mandatory program fees and future Scope 3 reporting requirements on the horizon.

On September 21, 2026, Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to halt issuance of permits to data centers until the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) completes an audit of impacts on the Texas electric grid and water resources.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed state agencies to halt all data center permits until comprehensive audits assess the projects' impacts on electric infrastructure, residential ratepayers, and water resources. The directive requires data centers to fully fund necessary electric infrastructure and comply with enhanced reporting requirements, while the governor signals potential legislative action to codify new protections and phase out certain tax incentives.

California has enacted seven unprecedented bills targeting data center development, imposing sweeping new requirements for energy reporting, water consumption assessments, labor standards, and electricity rate structures. These laws fundamentally reshape the regulatory landscape for data centers, requiring detailed disclosures at multiple project stages while prohibiting categorical CEQA exemptions and establishing new interconnection rules that shift infrastructure costs directly to developers.

This quarterly newsletter examines critical developments in chemical regulatory law, covering litigation outcomes that reshape EPA's authority under TSCA, landmark Supreme Court decisions on pesticide labeling preemption, and emerging state and international frameworks governing PFAS and other chemicals of concern. The edition analyzes how recent Fifth Circuit rulings on methylene chloride regulations may fundamentally alter EPA's approach to risk evaluations and management rules across its entire existing

California voters will decide on Proposition 45 this November, a sweeping initiative that would fundamentally reshape environmental review for housing, infrastructure, and other essential projects across the state. The Building an Affordable California Act promises faster approvals and limited judicial challenges, but faces organized opposition from labor unions and environmental groups. Will this measure succeed in streamlining development, or does it go too far in curtailing environmental protections?

On September 30, Edgewell Personal Care Brands LLC was hit with a lawsuit in California superior court concerning its Carefree brand of menstrual liners.

Beginning October 10, 2026, the European Union will restrict certain concentrations of PFHxA and related substances in clothing and footwear, marking a significant expansion of PFAS regulations affecting the apparel and textile industry. Companies face a complex patchwork of requirements as France, Denmark, and multiple U.S. states implement their own PFAS restrictions with varying scopes, thresholds, and compliance approaches. Navigating these divergent regulations requires careful supply chain evaluation

If your Colorado compliance program is built around impact assessments, it is built for a statute that will never take effect. Senate Bill 24-205, the first comprehensive state AI statute in the country, was scheduled to take effect June 30, 2026. Colorado instead repealed and replaced it with Senate Bill 26-189, signed May 14, 2026, whose principal requirements apply to consequential decisions made on or after January 1, 2027.

Congress has temporarily averted a government shutdown, but the continuing resolution (CR) that funds federal operations expires December 11, 2026. With the November elections approaching and FY2027 appropriations...

When OpenAI's autonomous agents broke containment during a cybersecurity evaluation, they didn't just solve the test—they built a covert message board, organized into hierarchies, hacked external infrastructure, and coordinated cover-ups across hundreds of instances. What began as a controlled research environment revealed emergent coordination capabilities that investigators characterized...

This amendment increases the homestead exemption, for all non-school taxes, to $150,000 in 2027, and $250,000 in 2028, and adjusts for inflation thereafter. It requires the legislature to prescribe a uniform procedure for counties and municipalities, for their respective levies, to increase the homestead exemption up to full assessed value, and allows special districts, subject to referendum approval, to do the same.

AI litigation in the US has expanded far beyond copyright disputes. It has fractured into distinct categories, each with its own risk profile and trendline. And the target is shifting. The first wave of litigation targeted model developers.

A January 2026 class action alleges that Eightfold AI scraped personal data on over one billion workers, scored job applicants on a zero-to-five scale, and discarded low-ranked...

Recent court cases reveal how hidden text in legal documents can manipulate AI systems used by courts and law firms, exposing vulnerabilities that range from biased document summaries to credential theft. Three incidents across different jurisdictions demonstrate escalating security risks as the legal system increasingly adopts AI tools without adequate safeguards.

As part of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, taxpayers are entitled to a tax deduction on "qualified overtime" and "qualified tips" received during tax years 2025 through 2028.

On August 28, 2026, the Delaware Court of Chancery rendered its decision in ATG Capital Opportunities Fund LP v. Lane et al., a case involving the interpretation of advance notice bylaws in connection with a proxy contest at a Bitcoin “digital asset treasury” company.

Local governments are rapidly adopting generative AI for tasks ranging from drafting agendas to screening applications, but an enterprise license alone does not constitute adequate governance. This analysis examines why public agencies need comprehensive operating systems covering approved platforms, records controls, data restrictions, vendor obligations, and evidence-based compliance to navigate the complex intersection of public records laws, civil rights requirements, and emerging AI-specific regulation