Highlights of the latest update include:

• New Chapter 25, Global Climate Change and Its Impact on Business, which discusses the legal impacts of climate change on business, including the risks and opportunities, so that corporations can strategically position themselves to best manage the impacts of climate change.
• Discussion in Chapter 5, Clean Air Act, of cases pertaining to EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases emissions from new motor vehicles and from stationary sources, respectively.
• Complete revision of Chapter 11, International Environmental Issues, featuring the latest in international environmental law, especially with regard to the European Union (EU) and Eastern Europe. The revisions provide an overview of the issues to consider when conducting environmental due diligence in a real estate or business transaction with an international component, including an analysis of the various and increasing requirements in the EU related to the regulation of chemicals under REACH and waste stream management.
• Coverage in Chapter 15A, Indoor Air Quality, of the new ASTM International E 2600-08 voluntary vapor intrusion standard for assessing potential vapor intrusion risks at contaminated sites.
• Revisions to Chapter 16, Disclosure Requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, updating the discussion of accounting principles guiding environmental disclosure and providing the latest developments on climate change disclosure.
• Discussion in Chapter 17, Environmental Liability and the Corporate Form, of recent cases examining the conflict between the expansive liability provisions in most environmental laws and the traditional protections of corporate law, and guidance for addressing associated risks.
• Revisions to Chapter 19, Bankruptcy, providing the latest in bankruptcy case law and featuring a discussion of 2008’s In re W.R. Grace & Co., in which the court extended automatic stay protection to non-debtor parties and also discussed the applicability of the “police or regulatory” power exception in the context of environmental law enforcement.
• Updated coverage in Chapter 20, Environmental Due Diligence, of environmental due diligence in the context of the “all appropriate inquiry” standard.

Also check out the Environmental Practice Area Center, which is available by clicking on lexis.com’s “Transactional Advisor” tab. This unique site sets out the key tasks in an environmental law transaction!