Volatile Times in Vapor Intrusion Regulation: A Legal and Technical Update
Vapor Intrusion: New Rules by the EPA
Recent peer reviewed studies have explored the potential for some per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to volatilize from groundwater and soil and enter indoor air via the vapor intrusion (VI) pathway. This research is...more
1,4-Dioxane is an emerging contaminant. Like “traditional” volatile organic compounds, it has the potential to volatilize and enter indoor air. This article explores why businesses should consider conducting a VI assessment...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
California has proposed new statewide vapor intrusion guidance that will make an already aggressive approach to regulation and management even more rigorous. If the guidance in its current form is finalized, it will mean more...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
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
For the first time, EPA has proposed to add a property to the National Priorities List (“NPL”), otherwise known as the Superfund list, based solely on the risk of vapor intrusion. The NPL contains the worst contaminated,...more
We have all been involved in investigating and remediating sites with soil and groundwater contamination. But another form of contamination has been recently gaining attention—vapor intrusion....more
An increasing degree of attention is being paid to instances of vapor intrusion, the process by which volatile chemicals migrate, in vapor form, from soil or groundwater into indoor air spaces of buildings. Even in the era of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With the EPA adding the consideration of vapor intrusion in its Superfund site investigations, hundreds of sites that previously would not rank high enough to qualify for listing on the National Priorities...more
On May 20, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed class certification in a case involving residential vapor intrusion claims, in Ebert et al. v. General Mills, Inc., No. 15-1735 (8th Cir. May 20,...more
U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Whether Jurisdictional Determinations May be Appealed - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determines the presence or absence of wetlands and other “waters of the United States” on a...more
The National Priorities List (“NPL”) is EPA’s list of the most contaminated sites in the country that warrant cleanup under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, (“CERCLA” a/k/a...more
Last week, we wrote about an audit that MassDEP is conducting of previously closed sites to look for high concentrations of TCE in soils and groundwater. The intent of the audit is to address potential vapor intrusion. The...more
The cumulative impact of the EPA guidance is to require the generation of more data, which means more sampling and analysis, more frequent and stringent remediation, and potentially higher remediation costs. At long...more
In a busy day for vapor intrusion, last week the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency made several announcements about vapor intrusion. First, it announced it had submitted a draft rule to the White House OMB seeking to...more
In Parker Shattuck Neighbors, et al. v. Berkeley City Council, et. al. (First Appellate District, December 30, 2013) (“Shattuck Neighbors”), the court upheld the City of Berkeley’s approval of a mitigated negative declaration...more