2026 Look Ahead

2026 Look Ahead Intro // Colin McCall

Happy New Year to all of our readers. We are looking forward to another year of work and camaraderie with our colleagues, clients, and partners. In keeping with tradition, we use our January Lookahead to step outside of the day-to-day tasks and evaluate the big picture for the year ahead. We have been penning Lookahead articles for over ten years and are always grateful for the opportunity to outline practical considerations in support of your Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) programs. The articles this year are structured in the following categories:

1. EHS regulatory and policy updates at both the Federal and local levels. We expect that most new regulatory activity will emerge at the state and local level, while the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) will focus on meeting its routine statutory compliance deadlines and streamlining some of the areas that they have prioritized in their first year under the current administration.
2. Evolving areas to place on the radar of your EHS programs including the evolution of digital solutions in EHS program management and strategy, greenhouse gas reporting expansion at the state level, chemical reporting watchouts, and emerging contaminant developments (e.g., how U.S. EPA is addressing continued Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) policy).
3. Insights directed at several industry sectors that have been a major part of ALL4’s history and that will continue to experience significant growth in 2026. In addition to the regulatory updates highlighted above, we see a continued evolution and increase in public stakeholder involvement in the environmental permitting process, particularly in industries that are experiencing a high volume of greenfield construction development. The importance of early stakeholder involvement and messaging that spans public and regulatory audiences alike continues to increase. ALL4 will be very involved in crafting comprehensive messaging around new projects in 2026.

As always, we hope that our January Lookahead and 4 The Record articles throughout 2026 can serve as a helpful point of reference as you manage and grow your EHS programs. We look forward to the work we will do together this year and I encourage you to reach out to me or our authors directly with comments and other topics that would be of interest.

Part 1

2026 Air Quality Look Ahead // Amy Marshall

While 2025 brought a new administration and changes to how the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) approaches air quality regulation and policy, we expect to see even more air quality regulatory activity in 2026. The Spring 2025 regulatory agenda was already outdated by the time it was released in Fall 2025, the government shutdown delayed several actions, and no Fall 2025 regulatory agenda was issued. However, we can speculate on actions that are likely to occur in 2026 based on 2025 executive orders and other announcements from the administration, which consistently emphasize energy from fossil fuel, new data centers, and reducing regulatory and permitting burden…

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2026 Water Look Ahead // Lizzie Smith

As we move into the second year of the second Trump administration, the water regulatory landscape is continuing to evolve quickly. ALL4 has been tracking key regulatory updates affecting industry and helping clients navigate regulatory uncertainty resulting from these fast-paced changes. Read on for the latest on federal effluent limitation guidelines (ELGs), facility response plans, drinking water, waters of the United States (WOTUS), and more!

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2026 RCRA and Waste Lookahead // Meredith Pedraza

We have seen a lot of action in the world of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in recent years, including the hazardous waste generator improvement rule and RCRAinfo changes. We do not expect the pace of change to slow in 2026. Here are ALL4’s top 5 RCRA and waste compliance developments that we will be keeping an eye on in 2026…

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2026 Look Ahead: Occupational Health and Safety // John Kelleher

Looking back at 2025, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) continued to move forward with its proposed rule for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings, published a series of over two dozen proposed deregulatory rulemakings, and updated its site-specific targeting (SST) program. The deregulatory rulemakings are aligned with Executive Order 14192, “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation,” which directs agencies to streamline regulatory obligations by repealing outdated or redundant standards, with the intent of reducing compliance costs and fostering economic growth. While the deregulatory rulemakings may tempt some employers to take their foot off the gas and reduce their focus on Health and Safety (H&S) compliance programs, taking a closer look at OSHA’s actions may make them think again before they decide to pump the brakes. We encourage you to be mindful of OSHA-related enforcement topics that are likely to be a priority in 2026.

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