The Department of Justice has renamed its Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) the Energy and Natural Resources Division. The rename is not just a branding exercise. It aligns DOJ’s environmental and natural resources litigation shop with the Administration’s broader energy program.
For energy companies, developers, and investors, success in 2026 will depend not only on understanding the rules, but on strategically navigating a rapidly changing regulatory landscape.
The global race for critical minerals is no longer a future prospect; it is a current economic and national security imperative. The surge in demand for rare earth metals, essential for everything from electric vehicle batteries to defense technologies, has propelled a specialized niche in the legal sector.
On December 5, 2025, EPA Assistant Administrator Craig Pritzlaff issued a memorandum directing the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance to adopt a renewed “compliance first” approach across all civil enforcement and compliance programs.
In this edition of GableGotwals’ PFAS Pulse, we track the latest developments in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) regulation and litigation. As the PFAS regulatory landscape tightens in some areas and recalibrates in others, companies across the supply chain should treat PFAS compliance as an ongoing priority.
Environmental issues surface in far too many deals only after the business terms are locked in, diligence windows are closing, lenders start asking hard questions, and after the opportunity to meaningfully and more accurately allocate risk has slipped away.
On September 29, 2025, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published an updated guidance memorandum regarding implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
In its recent decision in SSM Litigation Group v. EPA, the D.C. Circuit struck down EPA’s 2023 rescission of the long-standing Clean Air Act (“CAA”) Title V “emergency affirmative defense.”
