The Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued an August 16th Order Denying a Petition Objecting to the issuance of a Clean Air Act Title V Operating Permit (“Permit”) for the Turnkey...more
The Southern Environmental Law Center (“SELC”) on behalf of the Environmental Justice Community Action Network filed a Proposed Judicial Consent Decree (“CD”) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of...more
A California Superior Court judge ruled last week that Sonoma County must do more to ensure responsible groundwater pumping under the state’s Public Trust Doctrine, which holds that rivers, creeks, and other waterways are...more
The Environmental Protection Agency intends to issue a rule updating its Clean Air Act emission standards for new and existing municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills to cut methane and other harmful landfill gas emissions....more
Good morning! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past week and forthcoming climate-related events and hearings...more
Climate change threatens to dramatically shrink the amount of water California can deliver over the next 20 years and could significantly reduce supplies available from the State Water Project according to new projections...more
In furtherance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap, which our firm has written about frequently, the EPA released an updated guide on destroying and disposing of PFAS....more
Chemical and manufacturing groups sued the federal government on Monday over a landmark drinking water standard that would require cleanup of certain PFAS, so-called forever chemicals, which have been linked to cancer and...more
On April 17, 2024, the EPA signed a final rule to designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund. The...more
On April 8, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued interim guidance for public comment regarding the destruction and disposal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Below, we discuss the guidance and...more
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has designated PFOA and PFOS as "Hazardous Substances" under CERCLA, marking the agency's first use of Section 102(a) authority and signaling potential widespread industry impact...more
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a suite of final rules aimed at reducing contamination, emissions, and discharges from coal- and gas-fired power plants on April 25. This suite of rules includes two...more
As our readers are likely familiar from our past blog posts here, here and here, in September 2022, EPA proposed to designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under section 102(a) of Comprehensive Environmental Response,...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today designated two types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have been used in cookware, carpets, and firefighting foams as hazardous substances, an action...more
In response to critics who said that proposed new statewide water conservation rules — aimed at cutting urban water use even in years when California is not in a drought — were too complicated and costly, the State Water...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Thursday that it is delaying planned rules to curb emissions from existing natural gas plants. The agency said it is still on track to finalize rules for coal-fired power...more
Sixteen individuals (collectively, “Petitioners”) filed a February 9th Title V Petition to Object (“Petition”) before the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) related to Waste Management of New Hampshire,...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday set tougher standards for emissions of fine particulate matter or “PM 2.5,” saying the new standards would save thousands of lives nationwide....more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a December 12th news release indicating it had entered into a Consent Agreement with Hamm Inc. (“HI”) addressing alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. ...more
A group of 18 California children – ranging in ages from 8 to 17 – has filed a new constitutional climate case in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...more
Global political and business leaders have purported ambitious climate-focused goals for the decades ahead, such as eliminating landfill waste by 2030, transitioning to 100% renewable energy use by 2035, and achieving...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued an October 2023 report titled: Quantifying Methane Emissions from Landfilled Food Waste (“Report”)...more
Macy’s has been ordered to pay $1.6 million for environmental violations across its 98 California stores to settle a lawsuit filed by district attorneys from 25 California counties and two city attorneys. Macy’s “illegally...more
Seventy-nine percent of plastic waste ends up in landfills or the environment, much of which eventually ends up in our oceans. A March 8, 2023 study, estimated the average amount of small plastics in the ocean surface layer...more
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association said on Thursday that they had reached an agreement, referred to as the "Clean Truck Partnership," that gives new flexibility for...more