The Supreme Court’s recent term is likely to be remembered as one that significantly affected the long-standing roles and responsibilities of federal agencies, including the deference afforded to their interpretations of...more
7/17/2024
/ Administrative Authority ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Corner Post Inc v Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Authority ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Seventh Amendment ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Statutory Authority ,
Statutory Interpretation
On February 20, 2024, the City of Chicago sued defendant fossil fuel companies in Illinois state court, asserting state law claims, including nuisance, violations of consumer protection laws, and products liability. Chicago...more
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
On August 14, 2023, a Montana state court found that a Montana environmental review statute (the Montana Environmental Policy Act or MEPA) that limited (and as amended in May 2023, precluded) consideration of greenhouse gas...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
As we await final agency action on U.S. EPA’s pending rulemaking to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as CERCLA hazardous substances, U.S. EPA has just published an advanced...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)
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products continue to be in the regulatory and litigation spotlight in 2023. Manufacturers and downstream businesses should be actively preparing to comply with the...more
1/25/2023
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Health and Safety ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Manufacturers ,
PFAS ,
Popular ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Workplace Safety
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
On August 16, 2022, U.S. EPA released its Interim Environmental Justice and Civil Rights in Permitting Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) that provides guidance to federal, state, and local environmental permitting entities on...more
On August 12, 2022, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed its review of U.S. EPA’s proposed rule to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as CERCLA hazardous...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