1.Municipal-level “resiliency bonds” are funding billions of US$ of infrastructure investments which respond to expected impacts of climate change—despite US federal policy which does not officially acknowledge that climate change is a federal issue of concern. A subset of larger US coastal cities, such as Houston, are leading the pack in defining the terms of reference for cost-effective response and planning.

2.California’s AB617 law is leading to “people’s committees” empowered under the law to strongly influence local air quality policies, and potentially undermining the authority of statutory air quality management regulators who previously served as a buffer between potentially vulnerable populations and industrial facilities.  This law is expected to be replicated by other US states, leading to greater regulatory uncertainty for industrial facilities operating in the US.

3.PFAS and PFOA are recently-identified highly-toxic contaminants of concern which are now being federally regulated at the level of 70 parts per trillion, and at the state level at levels between 13 ppt and 2 ppb.  While the exact health risks are still being debated, many lawsuits have already been filed for '00Ms+ of damages that directly relate to the presumed health impacts of exposure to PFAS and/or PFOA.  There are 10,000s of sites or facilities across the US which require PFAS/PFOA clean-up, at an average expected cost of US>0M/site.