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

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

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