As lithium-based batteries become more prevalent in everything from electric vehicles (EVs) to industrial-scale batteries, as well as e-scooters and personal electronics, more questions arise regarding how to properly manage...more
In GreenRoots, Inc. v. Energy Facilities Siting Board, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), for only the second time, had an opportunity to interpret the Environmental Justice Policy (EJ Policy) promulgated by the...more
For the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“NYSDEC” or “Department”), discretion has been the better part of valor when considering enforcement of certain provisions of the Revised Part 360 Solid Waste...more
I undertook an Arkansas Environmental Federation webinar held by the organization’s Land and Sustainability Committee on May 20th titled: Solid and Hazardous Waste/Recycling Administrative/Judicial Developments: 2020-2021...more
Earthjustice on behalf of a number of environmental organizations sent a February 7th letter to United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator Andrew Wheeler styled...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Last week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a “streamlined system” for managing hazardous waste aerosol cans as Universal Waste. The Agency believes that the new system will be...more
On July 2, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided the case of California Communities Against Toxics, et al. v. EPA. In this decision, the court rejected the latest petition to strike or...more
On December 11, 2018, U.S. EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed a new hazardous waste pharmaceutical rule. The final rule retains a proposed requirement, opposed by industry, that prescription pharmaceuticals sent...more
Barnes Johnson, Director of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (“RCRA”) authored a September 11th memorandum titled: Management of Household...more
The State of Vermont (by and through the Vermont Attorney General) (“Vermont”) and Moretown Landfill, Inc. (“MLI”) entered into a Consent Order and Final Judgment Order (“Consent Order”) addressing alleged violations...more
The Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality (“MCEQ”) issued a May 11th Order addressing a proposed medical waste process facility. See Order No. 6851 18. The Order provides that the Three Rivers Regional Solid...more
I undertook a presentation at the Arkansas Environmental Federation Regulated Waste Seminar titled: Solid and Hazardous Waste/Recycling Developments: 2017-2018 (“Presentation”) ...more
EPA promulgated a final rule in 2015 redefining “solid waste” under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) to curb sham recycling (the “Rule”). In the August 2017 issue of Environmental Notes, we reported that...more
On July 7, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dealt EPA another blow to its over-zealous attempts to regulate as hazardous waste the hazardous secondary materials (HSM) that are...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has promulgated its proposed regulation of “hazardous waste pharmaceuticals,” i.e., pharmaceutical residues discarded from health care facilities which also meet EPA’s long-standing...more