Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court curtailed the federal government’s powers to regulate private property under the auspices of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Court in Sackett v. EPA held that “the CWA extends to...more
On April 3, 2023, the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) published a proposed rule to promote the conservation of the 245 million acres of public lands it manages. The proposal purports to advance “BLM’s mission to manage the...more
Stone v. High Mountain Mining Company, LLC, was decided September 12, 2022, and involved a citizen suit challenge to a placer mine operating without a Clean Water Act (“CWA”) discharge (“NPDES”) permit. High Mountain’s...more
In 2015, EPA published a rule under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) targeting coal-fired electricity generators designed to force their shift from coal generation to gas, solar and wind production. The “Clean Power Plan” (“CPP”)...more
“Sackett” may be poised to become a part of the Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdictional lexicon, joining the likes of Rapanos, significant nexus, relatively permanent, and Solid Waste Agency of Cook County, on the tip of every...more
On January 9, 2020, the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest (“ACLIPI”), on behalf of several individuals, filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (“Court”) a Petition for Review (“Petition”) of the United...more
Changes are on the way for ASTM’s Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (“Phase I”) standard, the almost 30-year-old lynchpin of the transactional due diligence process. The American Society for Testing and Materials (“ASTM”)...more
In prior blogs (available here and here), we’ve reported on changes to certain federal and state environmental enforcement policies related to COVID-19. In a nutshell, these policies essentially clarified the enforcement...more
On April 10, 2020, the U.S. EPA published “Interim Guidance on Site Field Work Decisions Due to Impacts of COVID-19.” Directed specifically to the Agency’s Regional Administrators, the interim guidance was issued for response...more
The pre-pandemic portion of 2020 saw continued vigorous enforcement by EPA of Clean Air Act “defeat device” provisions against the vehicle aftermarket parts industry, including manufacturers and installers, as well as the...more
On March 31, 2020, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) issued a Memorandum of Compliance and Enforcement Implementation During COVID-19. This memo of compliance is consistent with the March 26, 2020 United...more
EPA announced on March 26, 2020 a temporary enforcement policy regarding EPA enforcement of environmental legal obligations.
In general, EPA does not expect to seek penalties for violations of routine compliance monitoring,...more
OSHA has responded to the COVID-19 outbreak with a dedicated webpage that includes guidance for employers. While emphasizing that the current risk for most types of workers remains low, the guidance covers preparing...more
here is no shortage of dramatic, if not predictable, commentary in the wake of the Trump Administration’s release of its “Navigable Waters Protection Rule” (“Rule”) ranging from the indignant to the hyperbolic, and the...more
The first few weeks of 2020 have seen regulatory and litigation attention heaped upon what have come to be known as “forever chemicals” or Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), which encompass more than 5,000 chemical...more
1/24/2020
/ Contamination ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Waste ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Legislative Vetoes ,
NDAA ,
Pending Legislation ,
PFAS ,
Presidential Veto ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Utilities Sector ,
Water
The Rosemont Copper Project suffered a shocking setback with a July 31, 2019 order issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in Center for Biological Diversity, et al., v. United States Fish & Wildlife...more
A decade of lingering uncertainty for the mining industry regarding potentially billions of dollars in new regulatory compliance costs is now over (at least for now) as a result of the United States Court of Appeals for the...more
Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of recreational vehicles and lawn and garden equipment subject to EPA regulations should take no comfort in rumors of EPA’s reduced enforcement activity under the Trump...more
3/20/2019
/ Automotive Industry ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Distributors ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Imports ,
Inspections ,
Manufacturers ,
Motor Vehicles ,
Ports ,
Retailers ,
U.S. Customs
If you haven’t heard of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), you likely will soon. Like DDT, PCBs, asbestos, and MTBE before it, PFAS are a class of chemicals that have been used in a wide variety of commercial and...more
2/15/2019
/ CERCLA ,
Contamination ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Municipalities ,
Pollution Control ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Safe Drinking Water Act ,
Statistical Sampling ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Utilities Sector ,
Water Supplies
The partial government shutdown that began December 22, 2018 has interrupted the Trump administration’s proposal to revise the Clean Water Act’s definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS Proposal). The pre-publication...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries jointly announced via conference call this morning the publication of proposed revisions to portions of their regulations that implement key sections of the Endangered...more
There’s yet more breaking news on the Trump administration’s efforts to clarify the scope of the federal government’s Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction. On June 29, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S....more
On Monday, December 4, 2017, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Water Quality Division, kicked off a stakeholder process to discuss the potential for the state to seek primacy for two water-related regulatory...more
Keeping track of the ongoing administrative and judicial developments on the issue of Clean Water Act jurisdiction has become almost as complex as trying to make a jurisdictional determination itself. Here is a handy synopsis...more
11/21/2017
/ Appeals ,
Certiorari ,
Clean Water Act ,
Clean Water Rule ,
Comment Period ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Jurisdiction ,
Navigable Waters ,
Oral Argument ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Proposed Rules ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Water ,
Waters of the United States
The headlines generated by the Volkswagen emissions scandal continue to amaze the environmental community and the general public, both here and abroad. The events are shocking in part because they involve a household name in...more
1/19/2017
/ Automotive Industry ,
CARB ,
Carbon Emissions ,
China ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Air Act Violations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Document Destruction ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Crimes ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FBI ,
Foreign Manufacturers ,
Germany ,
Imports ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Obstruction of Justice ,
Retailers ,
Volkswagen ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud