Volatile Times in Vapor Intrusion Regulation: A Legal and Technical Update
Vapor Intrusion: New Rules by the EPA
The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) in late February 2024 announced an update to its Guidance for Evaluating Soil Vapor Intrusion in the State of New York. For the first time, the Soil Vapor/Indoor Air Decision...more
As regulation of vapor intrusion continues to evolve and escalate costs at contaminated sites, due diligence practices for vapor intrusion must also continue to evolve. Potential purchasers should consider supplementing a...more
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), State Water Resources Control Board, and San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (collectively, CalEPA VI Workgroup) published their final draft...more
On February 23, 2023, California EPA (Cal EPA) finally released a “final draft” version of the much-awaited vapor intrusion guidance, Final Draft Supplemental Guidance: Screening and Evaluating Vapor Intrusion (VI Guidance)...more
Last month, I had the pleasure of participating in a roundtable discussion regarding “Transactional Real Estate and Environmental Due Diligence” co-hosted by Primerus and Association of Corporate Counsel. I don’t know about...more
Last month, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (“DTSC”) issued its long-awaited “Vapor Intrusion Update” (“Advisory”) which is intended to guide the selection of attenuation factors (“AFs”) at contaminated...more
CalEPA’s supplemental guidance on vapor intrusion offers instruction but also creates questions. Our Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources Group looks back and looks forward at what the impending changes might mean for...more
As concerns have escalated about vapor intrusion, regulatory agencies are not only taking more conservative approaches to risk – they may also be more likely to take enforcement action where there is delay or non-compliance...more
Standard due diligence practices may not necessarily identify all the potential liabilities associated with the rapidly evolving field of vapor intrusion. ...more
Deferring to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit rejected a challenge to the first-ever listing of a site on the Superfund National Priorities List under recent regulatory...more
By Catherine W. Johnson In February 2020, California EPA (Cal-EPA) released its Draft Supplemental Vapor Intrusion Guidance (“Draft Guidance”) – designed to promote consistency in the investigation of vapor intrusion among...more
Technical consultants Elie Haddad and Jennifer Boyer (Haley & Aldrich, Inc. - San Jose, CA) team up with environmental attorneys Brian Moskal and Sherry Jackman (Greenberg Glusker LLP - Los Angeles, CA) to discuss and explore...more
While the vast majority of Proposition 65 claims involve consumer products, Proposition 65 also applies to environmental exposures. On July 3, 2020, a Proposition 65 notice of intent to sue was filed against a consulting firm...more
In February, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, or DTSC, the State Water Resources Control Board, or SWRCB, and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board released a much-anticipated draft...more
After years in the making behind closed doors, on February 14, 2020, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board and the California State Water...more
By Laurie Berger (May 28, 2020) In February of this year, three California regulatory agencies released the much-anticipated draft guidance for the investigation of vapor intrusion, “Supplemental Guidance: Screening and...more
The Petroleum Marketers Association (“PMAA”) publication Weekly Review published a March 26th article addressing a new ASTM Standard for spill bucket and sump testing. Spill bucket and sump testing is required by 40 C.F.R. §...more
Guidance Increases Uncertainty for Restoring Brownfields - The long-awaited CalEPA guidance for screening and evaluating vapor intrusion has been issued as a draft for public comment. This state-wide guidance, jointly...more
Two recent cases illustrate the potential scope of, and the potential limitations on, injunctive relief in RCRA citizen suits. First up, Schmucker v. Johnson Controls. Contamination was detected at the Johnson Controls...more
Introduction - Vapor intrusion has emerged as an important legal, scientific, and policy issue over the last decade. With this issue’s growing importance, it is prudent for persons acquiring, leasing, or developing...more
This Corner Briefing highlights new Environmental Screening Levels (ESLs) established by the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board on Jan. 24, 2019. The new ESLs have the potential for making sites that cleared...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) added five sites to the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (“Superfund”) National Priority List (“NPL”). See 83 Fed. Reg. 46408. ...more
Last week, EPA added two sites to the National Priorities List (NPL), a list of sites of national priority for known or threatened releases of hazardous substances, solely for the risks posed by vapor intrusion. ...more
EPA has proposed to add the Rockwell International Wheel & Trim Site in Grenada, Mississippi to the National Priorities List, the first site added based solely on the risk to human health from vapor intrusion from subsurface...more