Natural Resource Damages & Environmental Justice
Environmental Agencies, Superfund Cleanups, and Managing Enforcement Actions
What are PFAS and Why Should We Care?
Volatile Times in Vapor Intrusion Regulation: A Legal and Technical Update
In general, environmental law seeks to protect public health and the environment by providing for liability, compensation, cleanup, and emergency response to the release or disposal of hazardous substances. And more...more
Because the courts have interpreted the 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq., as a strict liability statute holding owners in the chain of title liable...more
One of the primary goals of bankruptcy law is to provide debtors with a fresh start by imposing an automatic stay and allowing for claims of reorganizing debtors to be discharged. In environmental law, a primary goal is to...more
On December 15, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency published a final rule recognizing ASTM E1527-21 as the new standard for performing a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (“ESA”)....more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") adopted an updated standard of practice for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments on December 15, 2022. The updated standard adds more refined investigation and...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“U.S. EPA”) has revised the standards by which real property purchasers, lessees and environmental professionals should conduct a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (“Phase I...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in the process of rulemaking to adopt a new national standard for Phase I environmental site assessments. While the EPA had hoped to adopt the new Phase I standard more...more
As a general rule, the law will not allow plaintiffs to sit on legal rights indefinitely. Superfund actions are no exception. The 6th Circuit recently applied this principle, finding a declaratory judgment of liability...more
For many years, it has been standard practice for prospective purchasers and even tenants to conduct a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (“ESA”) before acquiring a new property interest. This is for two important reasons:...more
Spent lead ammunition at outdoor shooting ranges remains a significant environmental topic, as accumulated lead can pose a threat to human health and the environment if best management practices are not implemented in a...more
As covered in my previous post, the ASTM International (ASTM) released a revised standard for conducting Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Phase I ESAs) – ASTM E1527-21. While the E1527-21 standard has been available...more
On December 1, 2021, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (“VDEQ”) announced via a notice on its Brownfields website that it stopped accepting applications for Bona Fide Prospective Purchase (“BFPP”) and other...more
On November 1, the American Society for Testing and Material’s (ASTM) released a revised standard for conducting Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Phase I ESAs). ...more
Given the current demand for downtown properties, borrowers are acquiring contaminated properties like never before. Against this backdrop, lenders should become familiar with the basics of environmental laws imposing...more
The federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”), also known as the Superfund law, has been used successfully to clean up abandoned industrial sites across the country....more
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California (“Court”) addressed in a November 16th Memorandum and Order (“Order”) the liability of an individual under certain federal and state environmental...more
A recent Third Circuit Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, (‘CERCLA’) decision reaffirms the importance of environmental due diligence in real estate purchases. Pennsylvania Department of...more
Because of the increasing frequency of significant, often multimillion-dollar, environmental claims against businesses and individuals under environmental statutes such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response,...more
Despite last minute veto threats from the White House, the bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 was signed into law earlier this year. Buried deep in this massive omnibus spending bill is a major win for...more
Asarco, LLC v. Atlantic Richfield Company, 866 F.3d 1108 (9th Cir. 2017). In a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) contribution case, the Ninth Circuit addressed three issues of...more
On October 4, the Ninth Circuit reversed the District Court for the Southern District of California's decision to allocate to a government contractor 100 percent of cleanup costs for hazardous contamination at a manufacturing...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court decision allocating 100% of CERCLA response to costs to a U.S. military contractor, where both the U.S. and the contractor were liable parties. TDY Holdings,...more
Congratulations! Your company just bought a large commercial property to manufacture its widgets. Unfortunately, you just received a notice from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) that the previous owner...more
A federal court recently found the City of Fairbanks, Alaska responsible for 55% of the remediation costs necessary to clean up property it used to own because it should have taken action to mitigate the harm or warn the...more
Asarco LLC v. Noranda Mining, Inc., 844 F.3d 1201 (10th Cir. 2017). In a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) contribution action, the Tenth Circuit ruled that a mining company, whose...more