As we wrap up our week-long celebration of Earth Day with insightful articles focusing on various aspects of plastic pollution, this final article focuses on how the courts are being asked to step into ring and referee the...more
4/26/2024
/ Clean Water Act ,
Earth Day ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Plastic Bag Bans ,
Plastic Straw Ban ,
Plastics ,
Pollution Control ,
RCRA ,
Recycling ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements
As we kick off Earth Day 2024, we look to this year’s Earth Day theme–“Planet versus Plastics.” Planet versus Plastics seeks to focus attention on the challenges that plastic pollution poses to the planet. In recognition of...more
U.S. EPA released the first set of data collected by public water systems (PWS) pursuant to the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5). UCMR 5 required PWS serving more than 10,000 customers to sample for 29...more
Hiding in plain sight in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA)--which is intended to extend the nation’s debt limit into 2025 in order to avoid a federal default--are provisions that seek to amend the National...more
Earth Week 2023 brought with it two significant environmental justice developments. The week began with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announcing the adoption of regulations aimed at reducing pollution in historically...more
Earth Week 2023 brought with it two significant environmental justice developments. The week began with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announcing the adoption of regulations aimed at reducing pollution in historically...more
PFAS are being detected in drinking water systems across the United States. Moreover, evolving regulatory developments already require or soon will require that public water systems sample for and remediate these chemicals....more
3/24/2023
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Water Act ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NPDES ,
PFAS ,
Public Safety ,
Stormwater Discharge Permits ,
Wastewater ,
Water
Almost two years to the date after U.S. EPA issued its regulatory determination for contaminants on the forth Contaminant Candidate List, U.S. EPA has issued its draft rule setting drinking water limits for several PFAS...more
3/15/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Contamination ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
PFAS ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Public Health ,
Safe Drinking Water Act
On February 14, 2023, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) issued a proposed draft rule that provides guidance on reporting requirements and sales prohibitions for products and product components containing...more
Developing a Proactive and Strategic Game Plan -
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products continue to be in the regulatory and litigation spotlight in 2023. Manufacturers and downstream businesses...more
2/20/2023
/ CERCLA ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Manufacturers ,
PFAS ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Retailers ,
Safer Consumer Product Regulations ,
State and Local Government ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
On November 2, 2022, U.S. EPA released the pre-publication version of the fifth contaminant candidate list (CCL 5) containing 66 chemicals, 12 microbes, and three chemical groups (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS),...more
U.S. EPA issued its long anticipated interim updated drinking water health advisories for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) that replace previous U.S. EPA health advisories for these per-...more
6/16/2022
/ CERCLA ,
Contamination ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
New Guidance ,
PFAS ,
Public Health ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
On May 18, 2022, U.S. EPA updated its Regional Screening Level tables to include five new per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The five new PFAS compounds added to the RSL tables are hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer...more
5/20/2022
/ CERCLA ,
Contamination ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
PFAS ,
Public Health ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
On the 60th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carlson’s groundbreaking book “Silent Spring”, the world continues to struggle to manage the human health and environmental risks associated with newly discovered emerging...more
4/20/2022
/ Contamination ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Substances ,
PFAS ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
On April 8, 2022, U.S. EPA added the industrial solvent 1-bromopropane (1-BP) to its list of CERCLA hazardous substances; this listing was triggered by U.S. EPA’s decision to add 1-BP to the Clean Air Act’s list of hazardous...more
4/15/2022
/ Air Pollution ,
CERCLA ,
Clean Air Act ,
Contamination ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
PFAS ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Superfund ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
On March 22, 2022, U.S. EPA released a new web tool designed to ensure that information regarding environmental violations and enforcement actions is more readily available to the public. The new tool, called ECHO Notify,...more
In connection with the release of its 2020 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) National Analysis that evidenced a 10% decline in environmental releases of TRI chemicals between 2019 and 2020, U.S. EPA announced that it intends to...more
3/7/2022
/ De Minimus Quantity Exemption ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
NDAA ,
PFAS ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
In what could portend significant risk to the regulated community, a recent “overfiling” by U.S. EPA in connection with a Clean Air Act (CAA) settlement between the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) and a...more
2/9/2022
/ Clean Air Act ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Violations ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
Notice of Violation ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management ,
Settlement Agreements
On January 10, 2022, U.S. EPA forwarded to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a proposed rule that seeks to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as “hazardous...more
1/12/2022
/ CERCLA ,
Contaminated Properties ,
Contamination ,
Cost Recovery ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
OMB ,
PFAS ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Superfund ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
On December 20, 2021, U.S. EPA finalized its Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) that will require public water systems (PWS) to collect monitoring data for 29 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and...more
12/22/2021
/ Contamination ,
Data Collection ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Drinking Water ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
PFAS ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
On Monday, October 18, 2021, U.S. EPA released its PFAS Strategic Roadmap (Roadmap) outlining the agency’s three-year strategy for addressing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The Roadmap acknowledges that U.S. EPA...more
10/19/2021
/ CERCLA ,
Contamination ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
NPDES ,
PFAS ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
In prepared remarks from U.S. EPA chemicals chief Michael Freedhoff that were presented at the Product Stewardship Society’s annual meeting, Freedhoff clearly articulated an intent by the Agency to reverse course and...more
In the latest attack on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a recent report issued by the environmental group, Toxic-Free Future (TFF), seeks to link PFAS utilized in the manufacture of food packaging to the release...more
9/23/2021
/ CERCLA ,
Climate Change ,
Energy & Climate Debates ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Food Products . ,
Global Warming ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Montreal Convention ,
PFAS ,
Product Packaging ,
Toxic Chemicals