Paul Weiland, Nossaman Environment and Land Use Chair, Quoted In Law360 On Election's Impact On Environmental Enforcement

Paul Weiland, the Chair of Nossaman’s Environment and Land Use Practice Group, was featured in the Law360 story, Environmental Enforcement Under Trump: 5 Open Questions.  The article looks at the shifts that may occur in environmental enforcement priorities at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.  Mr. Weiland spoke on a wide range of issues throughout the article, including the possible changes in the fossil fuel industry.  On this topic, he stated he think[s] it’s likely that under the Trump administration, the conventional or traditional energy sector will be looking for regulatory relief, and that will include the rulemaking side but also the enforcement side, in terms of how that issue is approached and prioritized.  He also opined on whether the EPA will face further resource tightening - commenting that based on Trump’s few comments about EPA administration on the campaign trail, it’s easy to believe there will be a whittling away of resources.  The less enforcement resources that EPA or ENRD has, the more they have to pick and choose cases, and the fewer they can move forward," he said.  Lastly, regarding day-to-day functions of the regulatory agencies staying out of the political spotlight, Mr. Weiland said that ‘run-of-the-mill’ Clean Air Act or Clean Water Act violations don’t attract a lot of political attention, so a new administration isn’t likely to force a huge shift on that front.