The Trump Administration is initiating major changes to reduce NEPA burdens, including an interim final rule to repeal the longstanding White House Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA regulations and CEQ guidance directing federal agencies to update their agency-specific NEPA regulations and procedures to prioritize efficiency and certainty. These actions implement directives from the President’s Executive Order (EO) 14154, Unleashing American Energy, to expedite and simplify the federal permitting process to unleash energy dominance through efficient federal permitting. These changes may lead to more focused reviews and help accelerate federal permitting, although there is likely to be uncertainty in the implementation of NEPA in the near term as agencies work to update their regulations and procedures.
On February 26, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the launch of a Joint Labor Task Force to “prioritize rooting out and prosecuting unfair labor-market practices that harm American workers.”
The trend of Delaware court decisions favoring policyholders continues with a favorable ruling in AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. v. XL Specialty Insurance Company, et al. The Delaware trial court found that AMC’s settlement payment, made in the form of AMC shares valued at $99.3 million, qualified as a covered “Loss” under its directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance policy. This ruling is noteworthy for a variety of reasons, particularly because it establishes that non-traditional forms of currency, like stock, can be a covered “Loss” under D&O policies.
On March 7, 2025, the New York Attorney General announced a $650,000 settlement with Saturn Technologies Inc., the developer of a student social networking app, for alleged privacy violations.
Prior to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 U.S. consular officers were able to process and approve many visa applications without interviews using the Dropbox procedure. After 9/11, when it became known that several of the terrorists who carried out the attacks had received visas in Saudi Arabia without personal interviews, the Department of State seriously curtailed access to the Dropbox for visa issuance and renewals, limiting these to diplomatic and official visa applicants.
