In September 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") announced an extension to the reporting period for its new Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances ("PFAS") reporting and recordkeeping requirements under the Toxic...more
Water rights holders in Whatcom County and northern Skagit County will be affected by a court adjudication case filed in May 2024 by the Washington State Department of Ecology ("Ecology"). Ecology filed this general water...more
We can now talk about the proverbial elephant in the PFAS room that has been lingering for a while. On April 19, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will list the so-called "forever chemicals"...more
4/24/2024
/ CERCLA ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Site Assessment ,
Hazardous Substances ,
NPDES ,
PFAS ,
Pollution Control ,
RCRA ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process
Inflation Reduction Act pledged millions to label program intended to cut climate pollution linked to manufacturing of construction products and materials -
The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") is seeking public...more
On January 31, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") proposed two new rules that would add nine per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (known as "PFAS") to its list of hazardous constituents regulated under the...more
2/7/2024
/ CERCLA ,
Contamination ,
Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Hazardous Waste ,
PFAS ,
Proposed Regulation ,
RCRA ,
Toxic Chemicals
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) just announced that it would not appeal a recent decision by the Oregon Court of Appeals invalidating the Climate Protection Program (CPP), Oregon's sweeping administrative...more
There is little debate that "PFAS are everywhere."Nor is it debatable that PFAS, a term used to encompass per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a primary focus of regulatory action and are an increasingly common cause of...more
In Sackett v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a massive blow to EPA's ability to regulate wetlands under the Clean Water Act ("CWA"). Addressing the "nagging question" about the reaches of the CWA, Justice Alito, joined...more
6/21/2023
/ Biodiversity ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Clean Water Act ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Jurisdiction ,
NEPA ,
Rapanos v US ,
Sackett ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
In Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. USFDA, U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kasmaryck stayed the FDA approval of the abortion drug Mifepristone, disregarding the FDA's medical and scientific judgment to approve the drug 23...more
On the eve of 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule modifying the definition of "waters of the United States" (WOTUS), a key term of the 1972 Clean Water Act that has fueled much passion for...more
With Oregon's recent implementation of rules to cap greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the entire West Coast is now subject to some form of GHG emissions cap program. We have previously discussed California's and Washington's...more
If there is one thing we know for certain about the term "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA), it is that its definition remains uncertain....more
As drought conditions intensify throughout the western United States, water allocation and procurement continue to be contentious issues. While the problem is easily identified—demand keeps increasing, but supply is...more
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has announced proposed rulemakings related to implementation of the Toxic Free Kids Act (TFKA). The TFKA was passed in 2015 and requires manufacturers of children's products to identify and...more
Companies looking to reduce their climate impacts and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions use a variety of tools to do so: buying renewable electricity (especially solar and wind); improving the efficiency of energy-hungry...more
It has been 13 years since the World Bank concluded that Africa had "huge technical potential for clean energy projects." More than a decade after, how much has Africa lived up to this potential?...more
Under President Biden, the federal government will dramatically alter the way it calculates the social cost of greenhouse gases (GHGs). In his first day in office, President Biden issued an Executive Order re-establishing the...more
The Oregon legislature is once again considering potentially far-reaching climate change legislation. But unlike prior years, Oregon agencies are not waiting to see what happens this session....more
Before even being sworn in as the next President of the United States, President-elect Joe Biden is reaffirming campaign promises to adopt a stronger stance on fossil fuels as part of his strategy to combat climate change....more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has just finalized its rule reissuing and modifying a dozen existing Nationwide Permits (NWPs), issuing four new NWPs, and revising the general conditions and definitions applying to these...more
n an earlier post, we commented on the initial plans of various Oregon state agencies to implement Governor Brown's Executive Order No. 20-04 (EO 20-04) to reduce and regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Much has happened...more
On July 15, 2020, President Trump announced a "top to bottom overhaul" of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, deriding what he characterized as the "mountains and mountains of bureaucratic red tape in...more
On June 1, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its new rules implementing section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Section 401 provides that before a federal agency can approve a project that may result...more
In her March 10, 2020 Executive Order 20-04, Governor Kate Brown directed 10 state agencies to report by May 15, 2020 on “proposed actions within their statutory authority to reduce [greenhouse gas] emissions and mitigate...more
On May 15, 2020, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) submitted a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in which it objected to EPA's draft water quality discharge permits (NPDES permits)...more