On April 17, 2024, the EPA signed a final rule to designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund. The...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a prepublication version of a Final Rule that would designate two of the Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) as Comprehensive Environmental Response,...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a direct final rule on August 9th denominated: Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule, the Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals Rule, and the Definition of...more
On December 11, 2018, U.S. EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed a new hazardous waste pharmaceutical rule. The final rule retains a proposed requirement, opposed by industry, that prescription pharmaceuticals sent...more
While much of the environmental bar was focused on the Waters of the U.S. rulemaking, on December 11, U.S. EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed the new hazardous waste pharmaceutical rule. The final rule retains a...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made several recent changes that will affect compliance obligations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). First, EPA finalized revisions to the definition of...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) in a February 7th Federal Register notice issued a final rule amending the Non-Hazardous Secondary Material Rule (“NHSMR”) to add certain treated railroad ties...more
In American Petroleum Institute (“API”) v. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), the D.C. Circuit upheld, severed, and vacated portions of a 2015 EPA final rule, Definition of SolidWaste (the “Final Rule”). As explained...more
On July 7, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit” or the “Court”) issued a decision invalidating two key elements of the regulatory definition of solid waste under the Resource...more
EPA recently announced a 90-day stay for reconsideration of rules governing performance standards and emissions from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Landfills. The final rules issued in July 2016 established new source...more
Section 111 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires EPA to issue New Source Performance Standards (NSPSs) for certain source categories of air pollutants. These NSPSs set threshold limits on emissions of certain pollutants...more
Time to Pay More: EPA Increases Maximum Civil Penalties - Remember the days when the maximum civil penalty EPA could assess for a violation of environmental law was $25,000 per day? Those days disappeared 26 years ago...more
The news has been full of stories and articles concerning Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR), also referred to as coal ash. CCR became a hot topic in 2008 when a coal ash pond at a utility plant in Tennessee spilled more than 5...more
RCRA Definition Of Solid Waste Final Rule Published In Federal Register: On January 13, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its final rule revising the Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) under the...more
After years of relative easing in its interpretation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act rules that govern industrial recycling, the Environmental Protection Agency is now taking a harder line. A recently issued...more
On December 10, 2014, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy signed a final rule revising the Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The 500 plus page-long rule should be published...more
On December 10, 2014, the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA” or the “Agency”) signed a final rule revising the definition of “solid waste” for purposes of the federal hazardous waste regulatory...more