In a unanimous decision issued on April 7, 2025 in In re Appeal of the N.J. Dep’t of Environmental Protection’s Denial of Request for Adjudicatory Hearing, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the Department of...more
On April 5, 2025, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin notice of a long-awaited proposed rulemaking that would establish new requirements for reporting spills,...more
On January 14, 2025, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) issued a new Maine Construction General Permit (“MCGP”). The new permit replaces the prior 2006 MCGP, which expired and had been administratively...more
On January 22, 2025, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced that it would begin accepting applications to fund coastal sand dune restoration and protection projects. Last year, the Legislature...more
Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently published a proposed rule prescribing procedures and criteria for determining Currently Unavoidable Uses (CUU) of intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl...more
In the past month, both Maine and Massachusetts have taken steps to implement extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws and rules, with the intent of shifting the financial responsibility of managing packaging material from...more
While still a newly minted lawyer early in 1977, I had the good fortune to land a job with the then brand-new Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. This coincided with the 1976 election of Jimmy Carter as...more
The State of Maine, through the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), is seeking proposals from experienced environmental consulting firms for a comprehensive statistical analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl...more
The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (“Court”) addressed in a June 25th Opinion an issue arising out of a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) citizen suit action. See Raritan Baykeeper,...more
On September 6th, the Maryland Department of the Environment (“MDE”) officially withdrew the proposed regulations it had previously issued in December 2023, creating statewide Building Energy Performance Standards (“BEPS”)...more
The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (“PEER”) organization has issued an August 2024 report titled: Enforcement Efforts by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (“Report”)....more
Paraco Gas Corporation purchased an insurance policy for Directors, Officers and Private Company Liability (“D&O”) from Ironshore Indemnity, Inc. that covered certain acts of Paraco’s officers and directors. Paraco...more
Five environmental organizations entered into a Joint Notice of Settlement (“Settlement”) with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (“FDEP”) in the United States District Court for the District of Florida. See...more
Maine has once again amended and clarified its statutory restrictions on the sale of numerous categories of PFAS-containing products. The net effect of the legislation, enacted on April 16, 2024, is to 1) limit the scope and...more
Some of you may recall my earlier reports on Nantucket NIMBYs' efforts to deny local Chef Gabriel Frasca the opportunity to deliver fried food and soft ice cream to the Island's residents and visitors. These legal challenges...more
EPA issued a press release yesterday that caught my eye and if you're in the business of building things, including solar projects, it is worthy of your attention too. The press release announces a settlement between a solar...more
On April 16, 2024, Maine Governor Janet Mills signed into law significant amendments to the PFAS in Products Law. Initially passed in 2021, the PFAS in Products Law required manufacturers of products with intentionally added...more
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law the Flood Risk Notification Law (P.L. 2023, c.93) on July 3, 2023, amending the Truth-in-Renting Act (P.L. 2001, c.313) and supplementing the Consumer Fraud Act (P.L. 1960, c.39),...more
Over three years ago, the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave Clean Water Act 404 permitting powers to the State of Florida. A few days ago, a judge at the U.S. District Court for the District of...more
“Error: 404 not found.” The dreaded message you see when you visit a website that no longer exists. A District of Columbia federal district court judge ended the existence of Florida’s “404 program” (for protection of federal...more
The regulations aim to provide a legal framework for China’s carbon allowance trading market by strengthening requirements and designating responsibilities. On January 25, 2024, Chinese Premier Li Qiang signed a decree of...more
On February 14, Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Andrea Joy Campbell filed a civil lawsuit against Holtec Decommissioning International LLC and its affiliate Holtec Pilgrim LLC (Holtec), alleging the improper handling of...more
By statutory enactment, Maine intends to ban the sale, marketing, and distribution of products or product components containing intentionally added PFAS, effective January 1, 2030. 38 M.R.S. § 1614. This follows Maine’s...more
Building on its “Get Stuff Built” plan, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has proposed amendments to the Rules of the City of New York that would remove layers of environmental review for certain residential developments. The...more
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has posted for public comment its draft Chapter 375 rulemaking, which would establish a compensation fee for solar, wind, and “high-impact transmission line” projects. ...more