U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has designated PFOA and PFOS as "Hazardous Substances" under CERCLA, marking the agency's first use of Section 102(a) authority and signaling potential widespread industry impact...more
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a suite of final rules aimed at reducing contamination, emissions, and discharges from coal- and gas-fired power plants on April 25. This suite of rules includes two...more
As our readers are likely familiar from our past blog posts here, here and here, in September 2022, EPA proposed to designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under section 102(a) of Comprehensive Environmental Response,...more
Global political and business leaders have purported ambitious climate-focused goals for the decades ahead, such as eliminating landfill waste by 2030, transitioning to 100% renewable energy use by 2035, and achieving...more
A 2022 Interagency Sea Level Rise Technical Report, authored by various governmental agencies, found that global mean sea levels could rise between one and seven feet by 2100. This would me significant impacts to the more...more
Maine wastewater treatment plants are currently facing intense challenges concerning disposal of their sewage sludge, also called “biosolids.” This is a fast-moving issue getting significant coverage in the media and...more
In 2015, California’s former governor Edmund Brown Jr. set methane emissions-reduction targets for the state. Senate Bill 1383 requires that California reduce organic waste disposal 75 percent by the year 2025. Although most...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued the Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15 to address the widespread “forever chemicals,” known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), found in water, air,...more
Several environmental organizations have sued the U.S. EPA in an attempt to force the agency to revise its coal ash rules to include inactive, coal ash landfills. Currently inactive, coal ash landfills are exempt from the...more
United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator Michael Regan announced on October 18th what is described as a “Comprehensive National Strategy to Confront PFAS Pollution” (“Strategy”). The Strategy...more
I undertook an Arkansas Environmental Federation webinar held by the organization’s Land and Sustainability Committee on May 20th titled: Solid and Hazardous Waste/Recycling Administrative/Judicial Developments: 2020-2021...more
On May 24, 2021, in an opinion written by Justice Thomas, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that Guam’s lawsuit against the US Navy was not barred by CERCLA, thus restoring the Territory’s claim for recovery of costs to...more
President Biden has made environmental justice a cornerstone of his administration. While all government departments and agencies have a role to play, the U.S. EPA has taken on the environmental justice mantle as reflected in...more
Trade groups sue California to stop threatened species listing for Western Joshua Tree - Bullet Desert Sun – October 27 - Several trade groups and a high desert town sued in Fresno County Superior Court on October 21 over...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) approved the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s partial Coal Combustion Residuals (“CCR”) state permit program on January 10th. EPA approved the Georgia...more
As the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), Congress, and state regulatory agencies continue to push forward with per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) regulations, the Maine Department of...more
The National Waste & Recycling Association and Solid Waste Association of North America (collectively “Associations”) have jointly issued two documents addressing closed Municipal Solid Waste (“MSW”) landfills and the issue...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced on June 18th that it was approving the State of Oklahoma’s application to operate a permit program for disposal of coal combustion residuals (“CCRs”) in...more