[WEBINAR] Fairly (or Unfairly?) Traceable: Are Discharges Through Groundwater Subject to the Clean Water Act?
On July 23, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit denied a petition for rehearing in 68th Street Site Work Group v. Alban Tractor Co., Inc., et al., 4th Cir., No. 23-01155, declining the opportunity to potentially...more
The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) in late February 2024 announced an update to its Guidance for Evaluating Soil Vapor Intrusion in the State of New York. For the first time, the Soil Vapor/Indoor Air Decision...more
On February 14, Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Andrea Joy Campbell filed a civil lawsuit against Holtec Decommissioning International LLC and its affiliate Holtec Pilgrim LLC (Holtec), alleging the improper handling of...more
The Biden administration has prioritized regulating Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), which are a class of fluorinated chemicals used in products as varied as food packaging and fire-fighting foams because they are...more
A United States District Court (D. Maryland) (“Court”) addressed in a October 12th Opinion whether a Chapter 11 bankruptcy discharge barred a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”)...more
Finally, there is a substance that, when sent to a CERCLA Superfund Site, does not subject a party to liability. Many of us grew up in the environmental field understanding that anything sent to a site subjects a party to...more
Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known also as Superfund, in 1980 to address the horror of sites like Love Canal where discarded toxic chemicals began...more
In response to Congressional direction in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, Public Law No: 116-92, on 18 December 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued “Interim Guidance on the...more
The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (“Court”) in a March 31st Order addressed a dispute regarding a state-issued hazardous waste disposal permit. See United States v. N.M. Env’t Dep’t, No. CV 19-46...more
On November 20, 2019, the “PFAS Action Act of 2019” (H.R. 535) (the “PFAS Bill”) passed the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The PFAS Bill, eighteen subchapters long, says a great deal: most importantly, one year after...more
California Readies for Statewide Extended Producer Responsibility for Pharma Waste - The sale of needles (sharps) and pharmaceutical drugs in California is estimated to be on the order of $50 billion per year. Significant...more
The sale of needles (sharps) and pharmaceutical drugs in California is estimated to be on the order of $50 billion per year. Significant concerns have been raised about adverse impacts of wastes generated from the use of...more
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (“ADEQ”) and The Chemours Company FC, LLC (“Chemours”) entered into a December 8th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged violations of Arkansas Pollution...more
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq. (“CERCLA”) imposes fairly broad liability on potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”) to pay for the investigation and...more
December 19, 2014 marked the deadline for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to announce its final decision regarding a new regulatory scheme for coal ash disposal (Coal Combustion Residuals or CCR). The new...more
On December 10, 2014, EPA released a prepublication version of its long-awaited final rule revising regulations affecting hazardous materials recyclers under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”). The rule,...more
“A long time ago in a [May 19, 1980 Federal Register] far, far away [or so it seems],” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared its authority to regulate all hazardous secondary material, whether discarded or...more
The U.S. EPA recycling rules for “hazardous secondary materials” have been like the mathematical word problems you wanted to avoid on the algebra test: complicated and mind-bending. But what wastes are exempted from...more
Last week, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) announced a proposal to amend its Hazardous Waste rules to allow certain paints to be managed as universal waste. While the proposed rules may appear...more
While spring is typically the time of year we think of for cleaning, I find fall a good time to do it. I probably never got over the feeling of new beginnings that come with fall and school starting. So, as I was cleaning my...more
EPA’s efforts to regulate certain types of wastes as hazardous wastes -- some decades in the making -- are starting to see the light of day. Ranging from “very hot” to “simmering,” a number of EPA’s rules under the Resource...more
Part One: Determining Eligibility - The federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, usually referred to as “RCRA”, governs the storage and disposal of hazardous waste, including hazardous medical waste. In addition...more
U.S. district court rules that coke oven gas condensate is not subject to federal waste rules when reintroduced into the coke-making process....more
Extending its string of CERCLA PCB losses in the Midwest, NCR Corporation was recently found liable for contribution based on its sale of waste scrap from its manufacture of carbonless copy paper in Michigan. In...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Governor Brown signs bill to regulate hydraulic fracturing in California: Reuters - Sep 20 -- California's first legislatively-mandated regulations on hydraulic fracturing and related...more