A California Superior Court judge ruled last week that Sonoma County must do more to ensure responsible groundwater pumping under the state’s Public Trust Doctrine, which holds that rivers, creeks, and other waterways are...more
Climate change threatens to dramatically shrink the amount of water California can deliver over the next 20 years and could significantly reduce supplies available from the State Water Project according to new projections...more
On May 4, 2023, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the EPA’s proposed new rule to regulate landfills containing coal combustion residuals (CCR). The new rule would close a regulatory gap left open by the EPA’s...more
House Bill 1744 (“HB 1744”) has been introduced which would address landfills that receive money from the Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) from the Landfill Post-Closure...more
On April 27, 2022, the cleanup plan for the Dover Municipal Landfill Superfund Site in New Hampshire was reopened to add 1,4-dioxane as a groundwater contaminant of concern. EPA’s proposed “Explanation of Significant...more
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (“MPCA”) addressed in a March 18th news release per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) groundwater sampling results at a number of closed landfills. Groundwater is stated to...more
The Court of Appeals of Arkansas (“Court”) addressed in a September 11th opinion the City of Magnolia, Arkansas’s (“Magnolia”) challenge to the allocation of a Columbia County sales and use tax to finance a Solid Waste...more
Two recent decisions in New York state’s federal courts granted defendants’ motions to dismiss based on inadequately pled allegations, highlighting the strict pleading standard of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,...more
I under took a presentation at the April 18th Arkansas Environmental Federation Water Conference (“Conference”) titled: Does a Discharge to Groundwater Require an NPDES Permit? (“Presentation”) The Presentation focused...more
In late September, representatives of USEPA, NIEHS, University of North Carolina, Duke University and others participated in the symposium on “Emerging Contaminants in Ambient Environment: Perspectives to Guide North...more
In the evolving Sierra Club v. Virginia Electric & Power Company case, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has just reversed a Virginia-based federal district court on the key issue of whether a coal ash...more
Toxics Action Center, Inc., and Conservation Law Foundation (collectively “CLF”) filed a citizen suit action in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire against Casella Waste Systems, Inc., and North...more
New Source Review (“NSR”) remains a focus of enforcement for EPA. Between last year and now, EPA finalized eight settlements with manufacturers and one with a utility, asserting NSR violations for allegedly not obtaining a...more
The Pierce Atwood Environmental and Land Use Practice Group is pleased to provide the 2015 Summary of Key Maine Environmental Legislation enacted or carried over in the First Regular Session of Maine's 127th Legislature...more