This Week’s Regulatory Updates:
- EU Council Adopts Directive to Strengthen Water Quality Protections: EU governments have backed a science-based overhaul of water rules that tightens pollutant limits, adds PFAS, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides to the watchlist, and gives member states until the 2030s to fully comply.
- US EPA finalizes landmark rescission of 2009 GHG Endangerment Finding for motor vehicles: Donald Trump and the EPA have scrapped the 2009 GHG Endangerment Finding for vehicles, wiping out all federal car and truck climate standards since 2012 in what it calls the biggest deregulatory move in U.S. history.
- UK Approves Development of Fenwick Solar Farm: The UK has approved the 237.5 MW solar farm as a “nationally significant infrastructure project”, highlighting both the timely delivery of new energy capacity and a transparent, consultation-driven planning process.
- Indonesia Extends Freeport’s Mining Permits in Papua to 2061: Indonesia and Freeport-McMoRan have struck a long-term Grasberg deal extending mining rights to 2061, boosting state ownership, tying in a US$20 billion investment package, and hard-wiring local development commitments.
EU Council Adopts Directive to Strengthen Water Quality Protections
On Feb. 17, 2026, the EU Council formally adopted a directive strengthening water quality protections across the bloc, amending the Water Framework Directive, the Groundwater Directive, and the Environmental Quality Standards Directive to align with the latest science. The updated rules expand the EU’s pollutant list to include pharmaceuticals (e.g., painkillers), pesticides, bisphenols, and PFAS (“forever chemicals”), and introduce assessments for cumulative risk of combined substances.
Tighter environmental quality standards are applied to already-listed pollutants, while microplastics and indicators of antimicrobial resistance are added to EU watchlists as emerging concerns. The directive also mandates effect-based monitoring of surface water to capture the impact of chemical mixtures and allows member states to deploy remote sensing and earth observation technologies. Stark figures highlight the urgency: 46% of EU surface waters and 24% of groundwater currently fail existing environmental quality standards.
Cyprus’s Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Maria Panayiotou, stated, “Water is an utmost priority of the Cyprus presidency… By setting stricter quality standards for our rivers, lakes, and groundwater, we are not only protecting the resilience of our ecosystems but also ensuring access to clean drinking water and safeguarding the health of EU citizens today and for generations to come”.
The European Parliament is expected to hold its final vote by the end of March, with member states given until 2033 (revised surface water standards) and 2039 (full compliance) to meet the new requirements. The EU statements can be found here:
- Directive on priority substances on water policy
- Statements on the council’s reasons
- Statements from some EU member states
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Further reading: Safeguarding water quality: Council signs off on stricter protection rules for surface water and groundwater
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US EPA finalizes landmark rescission of 2009 GHG Endangerment Finding for motor vehicles
On Feb. 12, 2026, President Trump and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin stood at the White House to announce what they called “the single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history”:
scrapping the 2009 Endangerment Finding, the legal cornerstone that gave the agency its power to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from cars and trucks. With that finding gone, every federal GHG emission standard for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles, dating back to Model Year 2012, has been wiped from the books.
The EPA’s case for doing so rests entirely on a legal argument, not a scientific one; the agency says it simply never had the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate vehicle emissions to fight climate change, calling the original 2009 ruling “legally invalid from the start”.
Backing the claim, the EPA cites a string of recent Supreme Court decisions, such as Loper Bright (2024) and West Virginia v. EPA (2022), which collectively require a “clear congressional authorisation” before an agency can act on major policy questions, something the EPA says Congress never provided here.
The rollback also kills off related testing, reporting, and carbon credit programmes, though everyday rules on air pollution, fuel economy, and toxic emissions from vehicles remain untouched. The EPA projects that the move will save Americans over $1.3 trillion. Still, legal challenges are already expected, with a filing deadline of April 20, 2026, in the D.C. Circuit Court, the same day the rule takes effect.
Click here to read the final rule made by the US EPA
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Original articles: Final Rule: Rescission of the Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding and Motor Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards Under the Clean Air Act; EPA finalizes landmark rescission of 2009 GHG Endangerment Finding for motor vehicles
Related Articles
Here is a list of articles selected by our Editorial Board that have gained significant interest from the public:
UK approves development of Fenwick solar farm
The UK DESNZ (Department for Energy Security and Net-Zero) has granted development consent for the Fenwick Solar Farm and battery project in England with an anticipated maximum capacity of 237.5 MW, comfortably above the 50 MW threshold that classifies it as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project under the Planning Act 2008.
The scheme includes solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, associated electrical equipment, cabling, energy storage facilities, and grid connection infrastructure, and was promoted by Fenwick Solar Project Ltd. The application was submitted on Nov. 1, 2024, accepted for examination on Nov. 29, 2024, and examined over six months, during which the public, local authorities, statutory consultees, and other interested parties could submit evidence and views.
This is the 105th energy application (out of 173 examined so far) to be decided through the Development Consent Order (DCO) regime. It was completed within the statutory timescales set by the Planning Act 2008, underscoring the government’s push for the timely delivery of energy infrastructure.
The Examining Authority stated that it “listened and gave full consideration to all local views and the evidence gathered during the examination” before making its recommendation to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The final decision was taken by Lord Whitehead under the Energy Secretary’s legal authority, with all decision documents and evidence available on the National Infrastructure Planning project page, reinforcing transparency and public access to the regulatory process.
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Further reading: Fenwick Solar Farm development consent decision announced
Indonesia Extends Freeport’s Mining Permits in Papua to 2061
Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) and the Indonesian government have signed a landmark MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) securing Freeport’s operating rights at the Grasberg Minerals District in Papua for the life of the resource, one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits, replacing the previous arrangement set to expire around 2041 with a deal extending rights through to 2061.
At the heart of the MOU is a major ownership shift: Indonesia will receive a further 12% stake in PT Freeport Indonesia at no cost in 2041, bringing Freeport-McMoRan’s share down to approximately 37% while Indonesian state interests hold the rest, deepening a partnership that has already spanned six decades. In return, Freeport commits to a US$20 billion (Rp337 trillion) investment programme covering expanded underground mining operations at Grasberg, strengthened smelter capacity, and priority domestic processing to keep more value onshore.
The MoU also locks in community-side obligations, including the construction of a hospital and two medical education facilities in Papua.
Freeport-McMoRan CEO Kathleen Quirk called it “a testament to the mutual trust that has been built over many years,” while Indonesian officials framed the deal as a cornerstone of the new “Golden Age” of US-Indonesia strategic partnership on critical minerals and trade. The MoU will now be converted into definitive agreements, giving both parties and investors long-term legal certainty over one of the world’s most strategically significant copper assets.
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Further Reading: Indonesia Extends Freeport’s Mining Permits in Papua to 2041; Freeport’s Indonesia Contract Extended with $20 Billion Investment
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — In the Cover Photo: A water droplet. Photo Credit: Terry Vlisidis on Unsplash
