Oregon Packaging EPR Program Survives Constitutional Challenge
In a lengthy ruling with significant implications for similar schemes across the country, a federal judge has upheld Oregon’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for packaging, printing, and food serviceware, holding that it does not violate the U.S. Constitution’s dormant Commerce Clause or Due Process Clause. Oregon is one of seven states to have enacted […]
Ninth Circuit Upholds EPA’s 2024 New Chemicals Rule
Less than two weeks after oral argument, a Ninth Circuit panel has denied consolidated challenges to EPA’s 2024 rule governing reviews of new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The ruling upholds EPA’s case-by-case evaluations of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substances (PBTs) for streamlined new-chemical reviews. It also upholds the Agency’s decision not […]
D.C. Circuit Upholds EPA’s CERCLA Designation of PFOA and PFOS
The D.C. Circuit has upheld EPA’s designation of two PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). In Chamber of Commerce v. EPA, decided August 18, 2026, the court denied every petition challenging the designation, leaving the 2024 rule in place. What […]
Federal Court Blocks California’s “Truth in Recycling” Law on First Amendment Grounds
A federal court has preliminarily blocked California’s “Truth in Recycling” law, ruling that its restrictions on recyclability claims are likely unconstitutional under the First Amendment and finding that several of its key provisions are impermissibly vague under the Fourteenth Amendment. In a July 14, 2026, order, the Southern District of California concluded that although the […]
New Mexico PFAS Labeling Mandate Faces First Amendment Challenge in Federal Court
A collection of trade associations has sued in federal court to block New Mexico’s PFAS labeling requirement for consumer products, arguing that the regulation violates the First Amendment and the dormant Commerce Clause. The plaintiffs—including the American Chemistry Council, Alliance for Automotive Innovation, American Coatings Association, National Association of Manufacturers, and several other industry groups—filed […]
California Barred from Enforcing Prop 65 DEA Warning After First Amendment Challenge
On June 24, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California entered a final judgment and permanent injunction barring the Attorney General from enforcing Proposition 65’s cancer-warning requirement for diethanolamine (DEA) in cosmetics. The judgment adopts a stipulation that the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) and Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the day […]
FIFRA Preempts Label-Based Failure-to-Warn Claims, Supreme Court Rules
On June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court held, 7-2, that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempts a state-law failure-to-warn claim alleging that Monsanto failed to warn users that the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. The decision in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell concludes that EPA’s approval of a pesticide label without a cancer warning […]
New Mexico PFAS Labeling Rule Faces Appeal Over Free Speech, Agency Authority
A docketing statement has been filed in a state-court challenge to New Mexico’s near-universal PFAS labeling requirements, finalized by the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board (EIB) in April as part of a broader rule implementing the state’s PFAS Protection Act (HB 212). The docketing statement, filed June 22, 2026, identifies four issues on appeal: First […]
Industry Groups Tell Third Circuit That EPA’s TCE Exemption Is Unworkable
Companies granted an exemption from EPA’s ban on trichloroethylene (TCE) are asking the Third Circuit to vacate key conditions of that exemption, arguing that the requirements are so stringent they defeat the exemption’s purpose under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The brief, filed May 13, 2026, is one piece of consolidated litigation in which […]
New Mexico PFAS in Products Rule Appealed
A legal challenge has been filed in state court against New Mexico’s PFAS in products rule, which was finalized last month. As noted in a recent Chemical Watch article, concerns include product labeling issues and timelines that emerged during the rulemaking process. The final rule’s labeling requirements apply to all products containing intentionally added PFAS […]