On July 19, 2024, the D.C. Circuit Court upheld modified EPA regulations on monitoring biogas-derived renewable fuel, rejecting the petition of the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (the Coalition) -- a trade association...more
On April 10, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the first ever National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs), which are legally enforceable national standards, setting limits for five individual...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published in the September 8th Federal Register a final rule to amend the “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’” rule....more
Perhaps settling a debate that has been raging for at least 20 years, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision today in Sackett v. EPA that is intended to settle, once and for all, the scope of federal power over wetlands. ...more
As expected, and as described in our March 15 client alert, EPA today published in the Federal Register its first-ever National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for six PFAS substances in drinking water....more
EPA has announced its first ever National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) proposal for six PFAS substances in drinking water. Importantly, EPA is proposing legally enforceable national standards, called Maximum...more
On December 30, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced a joint final rule for the revised definition of the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). The new rule...more
1/10/2023
/ Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Final Rules ,
Jurisdictional Determination (JD) ,
Navigable Waters ,
Navigable Waters Protection Rule ,
Regulatory Reform ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule to replace existing regulatory requirements for water quality certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA)....more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced its Environmental Justice (EJ) Enforcement Strategy, which not only provides a roadmap for the Justice Department’s civil and criminal enforcement, but also revives...more
In a process that began under the LePage Administration, and then continued after revisions from the Mills Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finally granted a petition from the Maine Department of...more
EPA encourages storage of PFAS and PFAS-containing materials rather than disposal
On December 18, 2020, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released interim guidance on destruction and disposal of...more
The EPA promulgated, by publication in the Federal Register, the Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule that updates and clarifies the substantive and procedural requirements for water quality certification under...more
Businesses and others that suspended environmental monitoring and reporting during the Coronavirus pandemic should plan to resume those activities as of September 1, 2020. ...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered many restrictions on travel and personnel, leading many businesses and industry groups to wonder whether companies will face enforcement actions if they fail to comply with environmental...more
On August 8, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule to update regulations implementing Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The rule was proposed in response to President Trump’s...more
8/13/2019
/ Certifications ,
Clean Water Act ,
Comment Period ,
Deregulation ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Native American Issues ,
Oil & Gas ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Tribal Governments ,
Trump Administration
Pierce Atwood’s Environmental and Land Use Practice Groups are pleased to provide a summary of key environmental legislation from the 129th Maine Legislature’s First Regular Session, which adjourned sine die, on June 20,...more
7/1/2019
/ Administrative Authority ,
Air Quality Standards ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Fishing Industry ,
Groundwater ,
Groundwater Management Plan ,
Legislative Agendas ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Recycling ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Solid Waste ,
State and Local Government ,
Subdivision
On June 27, 2018, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) posted for public comment a draft petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove most of the state from the Ozone Transport Region...more
A new policy memorandum from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt will impact one of the most common, complex, and fundamental questions regarding air permitting: Will my proposed project be...more
On January 25, 2018, EPA announced that it was withdrawing its “once in, always in” policy for the classification of major sources of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act. Under its new...more
You think maintaining compliance with opacity standards is a challenge now – just wait. As anyone who has started a campfire knows, opacity (the density of the smoke) tends to be high when starting and ending fuel burning,...more
1/18/2017
/ Air Pollution ,
Biomass ,
Boilers ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Comment Period ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Internal Communications ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
State Implementation Plans (SIPs)
On December 14, 2016, EPA signed its proposed Kraft Pulp Residual Risk and Technology Review rule covering 40 C.F.R. Part 63, Subpart MM (a.k.a. “MACT II”) for recovery furnaces, lime kilns and smelt dissolving tanks at kraft...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that, at this time, no additional regulations are needed to address stormwater discharges from forest roads under Section 402(p)(6) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The...more
As major sources gear up to meet the January 31, 2016, compliance deadline for the Boiler MACT regulation, EPA has finalized a number of revisions to the rule that might affect your facility’s compliance plans. On November...more
On October 1, 2015, EPA announced that the new National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone would be 70 ppb, a 6.7% reduction of the current 75 ppb standard.
On November 25, 2014, EPA had proposed to...more
Since the mid-1990s, Maine has had an EPA-approved waiver from the ozone nonattainment new source review (NNSR) requirements for NOx covering, at a minimum, areas of the state that attain the ozone standard. The NOx waiver...more