On April 19, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a pre-publication version of its final rule designating two per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as hazardous substances under § 102(a) of the...more
B&D is pleased to present the next installment of our 2024 Litigation Look Ahead series. (Read part four covering Fifth Amendment takings cases here). In this edition, our litigation team examines various issues relating to...more
B&D is pleased to present our 2024 Litigation Look Ahead series. In this compilation, our litigation team highlights recently decided or pending cases, many before the U.S. Supreme Court, that could carry significant outcomes...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering and seeking public comment on potentially significant amendments to the hazardous waste regulations concerning the management, recycling, and disposal of drums and...more
On July 1, 2021, EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) issued a memorandum to all EPA Regional Offices urging the offices to increase cleanup program enforcement under the Comprehensive Environmental...more
On June 11, 2021, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a law, HB 2377, intended to make the insurance policies of dissolved Oregon corporations and limited liability companies available to fund contaminated site cleanups. The...more
The U.S. Supreme Court will once again wade into the scope and meaning of CERCLA, granting Guam’s petition for certiorari in Territory of Guam v. United States, No. 20-382, petition for cert. granted (U.S. Jan. 8, 2021). This...more
On December 3, 2020, Science published a peer-reviewed scientific study linking 6PPD, a common rubber antioxidant chemical found in tire preservatives, to coho salmon mortality in the Pacific Northwest. The New York Times,...more
On September 9, EPA’s Superfund Task Force released its final report on recommendations to improve the Superfund program. This eighty-page document is the culmination of EPA’s efforts that began with the initiation of the...more
The Seventh Circuit has affirmed that a purchaser with notice of environmental remediation risks can face a significant liability share under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980...more
In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that governmental agencies are still entitled to deference in interpreting their own regulations—but only where those regulations are “genuinely ambiguous.” Kisor...more
7/9/2019
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Auer Deference ,
Kisor v Wilkie ,
Reasonable Interpretations ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Stare Decisis ,
Vacated ,
Veterans' Benefits
At the end of August, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) issued guidance that allows volatile organic compounds (“VOCs”) released to groundwater to be left in place under certain circumstances;...more
The New York Court of Appeals ruled last week that if an insurance policy provides for pro rata allocation to determine the insurance coverage responsibility for environmental contamination spanning multiple policy periods,...more
On August 17, 2017, the Washington Supreme Court declined to reconsider its recent landmark ruling in Xia v. ProBuilders Specialty Insurance Co. RRG, 393 P.3d 748 (Wash. 2017), that an absolute pollution exclusion in an...more
In an action seeking insurance coverage for environmental contamination, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that “all sums” allocation would apply to the policies at issue, and therefore the...more
Companies facing environmental cleanup liability typically confront claims that are brought multiple decades after the alleged polluting activity took place. This passage of time often results in the loss or disappearance of...more
In January 2017, the Second Circuit ruled that policyholders must actually or presumptively give their insurers notice of specific policies under which they seek coverage—mailing a notice of the claim may not be enough....more
In the latest development in the insurance coverage litigation arising out of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a $50 million finding of coverage, holding that only the...more
On June 26, 2015, the Texas Supreme Court held that enforcement proceedings under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”)—including the issuance of a “PRP letter” notifying...more
In a much anticipated 8-1 decision, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that BP is not entitled to additional-insured coverage in In re Deepwater Horizon, No. 13-0670 (Feb. 13, 2015)....more
Recently, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the pollution exclusion applies to well water contamination arising from the application of manure to nearby farmland, relieving a general liability insurer of its duty to...more
1/27/2015
/ Clean Water Act ,
Contaminated Properties ,
Duty to Defend ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Farms ,
Groundwater ,
Indemnity Insurance ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Liability Insurance ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Pollution Exclusion ,
Solid Waste
A New York State trial court judge applied a pro rata time on the risk allocation for pollution from manufactured gas plants on Long Island. Keyspan Gas East Corp. v. Munich Reinsurance America, Inc.,Index No. 604715/1997,...more
PREEMPTION -
Supreme Court Says CERCLA Does Not Preempt Repose Defense for Tort Claims -
The U.S. Supreme Court has put to rest a longstanding legal question affecting the deadline for plaintiffs to bring toxic tort...more