Update: The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) officially kicked off the Nooksack adjudication, a legal process that will determine the priority of water rights in Whatcom County and portions of Skagit County....more
The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) announced it will begin an adjudication of water rights in Water Resources Inventory Area 1 (WRIA1), including the Nooksack River system, in April 2024. An adjudication is the...more
The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) filed a petition on January 4, 2024, under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requesting that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reduce allowances for...more
Two developments toward the end of 2023 have clouded the future of climate policy in the Pacific Northwest. First, on November 21, 2023, opponents of Washington’s Climate Commitment Act (CCA) submitted more than 400,000...more
Proposed rulemaking will also add requirements for third-party verification and seek to harmonize Washington’s CFS program with low carbon fuel standard laws in California and Oregon...more
Continuing Washington State’s push towards implementing one of the nation’s strictest chemicals laws, the Department of Ecology (Ecology) recently published its Draft Regulatory Determinations Report on certain products...more
Update: On September 25, 2023, the Washington Department of Ecology extended the fleet reporting requirement discussed in the alert below by a month, to October 31, 2023....more
On September 12, 2023, the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) launched a new rulemaking addressing the use of carbon offsets to comply with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limits under Washington’s Climate Commitment...more
After a multi-year rulemaking process, the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) issued the first substantive updates to the contaminated site cleanup regulations, Chapter 173-340 WAC, under the Model Toxics Control Act...more
On July 13, 2023, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) published proposed amendments to Chapter 173-443 WAC, Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Key provisions of the Proposed Rule include...more
Fleet Reporting Requirement The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) is requiring owners and operators of medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fleets to report information about their fleets to Ecology by September 30,...more
On July 13, 2023, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) published proposed amendments to Chapter 173-443 WAC, Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Key provisions of the Proposed Rule include...more
Armed with one of the country’s strongest state chemicals laws, the state of Washington is solidifying its status as a global player in product regulation. We discuss the latest developments below....more
A court in the Eastern District of Washington recently reversed its prior decision concluding that the deposition of aerial emissions from a smokestack in Canada could support a claim for arranger liability under Washington’s...more
The Washington State Supreme Court agreed with the Department of Ecology in a dispute over whether Ecology should have followed notice and comment rulemaking procedures when adding two new controversial test methods for...more
Key Takeaways -
• What Happened? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking to increase the protection of tribal treaty rights through water quality standards. First, EPA issued a final rule re-establishing...more
Last month, a federal court judge in the Eastern District of Washington concluded that deposition of aerial emissions from a smokestack could support a claim for arranger liability under Washington’s cleanup statute, the...more
The state of Washington has become a global player in product regulation. This month, the Department of Ecology issued a determination to restrict or require reporting on the use of five classes of chemicals in products. In...more
The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has proposed new rules to implement an economy-wide “cap-and-invest” program in Washington State. With comments due on June 30, 2022, these rules have the potential to impact...more
With its decision to list per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as hazardous substances under Washington’s cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA), the Department of Ecology ushers in a new era of uncertainty,...more
Even though polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have not been manufactured in the U.S. for over forty years, they continue to be present in building materials, including in caulk and joint materials, paint, siding, roofing, and...more
On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report titled “Performance Measures Needed to Assess Recent Changes to Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Regulations.” The Report recommends the...more
At the end of May, the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) issued draft Green Remediation guidance for public review and comment. The comment period ends June 25, 2021.
Ecology’s purpose in developing the guidance...more
On May 24, the Supreme Court weighed in on an issue that for decades has bedeviled litigants under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA): When can potentially responsible parties...more
5/26/2021
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Clean Water Act ,
Clean-Up Costs ,
Consent Decrees ,
Contribution Claims ,
Cost Recovery ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Remediation Costs ,
Guam ,
Guam v United States ,
Hazardous Waste ,
SCOTUS ,
Statute of Limitations ,
U.S. Navy
Lead arsenate, a pesticide that was used regularly in orchards until the 1940s, has contributed to lead and arsenic contamination in large swaths (over 100,000 acres) of Central and Eastern Washington. Some former orchards...more