The New Mexico Legislature has passed a law to take over primary authority for issuing wastewater discharge permits within the state.  The  Pollution Discharge Elimination System Act (SB 21) authorizes the state Environment Department (NMED) to take control from the federal EPA for issuing permits under the Clean Water Act. A change of such significance is relatively rare in environmental regulation in the United States where many longstanding programs, such as National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting, are well established into regulatory institutions.  

The Act is noteworthy for several reasons. First, facilities in New Mexico will now obtain NPDES permits from NMED rather than the U.S. EPA Region 6. The Act creates a new department within NMED that will be responsible for issuing and enforcing NPDES permits and developing regulations for the program. Second, the Act is a direct response to the  U.S. Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA decision in 2023, which resulted in the loss of federal protections for nearly all of the state’s streams, rivers, and wetlands. If New Mexico did not take over the water permitting authority, many permits issued by the EPA would be invalidated to the extent they applied to waters that do not meet the narrower definition of Waters of the United States under the Sackett decision. The Act allows NMED to continue to regulate water bodies such as wetlands and groundwater that are no longer subject to federal EPA jurisdiction. Finally, New Mexico’s action can be viewed as an early indicator of a predicted trend that state-level laws and regulations will expand as the federal government pulls back on environmental regulation and reduces staffing and budgets. New Mexico was one of three states without primary NPDES authority. Massachusetts and New Hampshire are the two remaining states. 

Two June 2025 amendments to the Substantive Labor Code and a secondary Decree significantly expand employer obligations to provide employee workplace protections. These reforms are expected to necessitate updates to employer contracts, internal policies, plans, programs, and record-keeping requirements. The amendments are an example of the global expansion of regulations focused on total worker health and employee well-being. 

Key changes to employers’ responsibilities, detailed in  Law 2466 of 2025, amending the Substantive Labor Code, include a gradual reduction of the statutory maximum number of working hours expected of workers, ultimately to 42 hours per week, spread over 5 or 6 days. Overtime limits are also revised to a maximum of two hours of overtime per day and 12 hours of overtime per week. Obligatory actions to eliminate workplace  violence, harassment, and discrimination are also stipulated. These include mandatory quotas to hire employees with disabilities beginning on June 26, 2026. “Reasonable adjustments” are to be made for disabled employees to enable them to access, perform, and maintain their jobs. New concessions for employee well-being include preferential relocation within a company for female workers who are victims of violence, and access to certified assistance, emotional support, or therapy animals.  Decree No. 0728 of 2025, amending Decree 1072 of 2015 under the Code, imposes additional responsibilities for promoting mental health in the workplace, including the implementation of awareness and intervention programs and actions to prevent: the use and abuse of psychoactive substances, mental health problems, and exposure to psychosocial risk factors within the framework of the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS).  The Law and Decree came into force on June 25, 2025, and June 26, 2025, respectively, with specified transitional deadlines. 

The Tennessee Legislature has passed legislation that prohibits the Department of Environment and Conservation from classifying real property as a wetland, or imposing restrictions on wetlands, unless the property is classified as a wetland under federal law.  Senate Bill 670 was signed into law on May 9, 2025 and took effect July 1, 2025. Tennessee law (requires property owners to obtain an aquatic resource alteration permit ARAP) prior to altering the physical properties of waters of the state, including wetlands. The new legislation redefines what wetlands are subject to ARAP requirements and imposes limits on what restrictions, such as compensatory mitigation and antidegradation standards, may be imposed as part of an ARAP based on the wetland’s quality classification and size. Furthermore, isolated wetlands may not be considered when determining the cumulative impacts of a project, even if the project contains other wetlands that are deemed jurisdictional under federal law.

On April 15, 2025, the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment published the  Ordinance on the Reduction of CO2 Emissions – Modification of 2 April 2025, which retroactively introduces significant amendments to the CO2 Ordinance, effective as of December 31, 2024. This allows businesses to commit to the revised reductions beginning in 2025. The update establishes reduction targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in various sectors by 2030. It also provides financial support to help companies significantly reduce their GHG emissions, support for biomethane production, and an exemption from the CO2 levy for companies that commit to reducing their emissions at an average minimum value of 2.25% per year (previously established at 2.5% per year). Companies participating in Switzerland’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) can apply for financial support to implement measures that enable them to reduce their GHG emissions substantially. The updates also provide measures and guidelines to promote and reduce emissions in the transport and aviation sectors. Additional amendments include revisions to the Decarbonization Plan and reporting requirements, as well as other changes. Note: Minor corrections to this amendment were issued under the  Decision of 28 April 2025.  

Australia’s Department of Employment and Workplace Relations recently lowered, by  legislative instrument , all blood lead levels (BLLs) governing worker lead exposure prevention and mitigation under the  Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011. Now, lead process work is defined as “lead risk work” if the likely BLL in women of reductive capacity exceeds 5 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL) and 20 μg/dL in others. The previous thresholds were 10 and 30 μg/dL, respectively, and in line with other BLL reductions, which are all between 33 and 66 percent. 

The other updated BLLs relate to the monitoring of BLLs in workers engaged in lead risk work. The first set, if indicated, requires the person conducting the business or undertaking (usually the employer) to arrange for biological monitoring of affected workers and specify the frequency of such monitoring. The final set relates to a work removal requirement. The triggering value (20µg/dL) is half of the previous one and provides that the person conducting the business or undertaking must immediately remove the worker from carrying out lead risk work and arrange for medical examination by a registered medical practitioner with experience in health monitoring within 7 days of the removal day. The worker can resume the lead risk work once their BLL drops to 5µg/dL, versus the previous value of 10µg/. The changes took effect on March 25, 2025.