Last month, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced a rulemaking process to list perflouorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Oregon Cleanup...more
On February 8, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed two rules to expand the Agency’s authority to address releases of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other emerging contaminants at...more
On April 13, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the federal register an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking public input to inform its decision whether to designate additional...more
A court in the Eastern District of Washington recently reversed its prior decision concluding that the deposition of aerial emissions from a smokestack in Canada could support a claim for arranger liability under Washington’s...more
Key Takeaways -
• Effective February 13, 2023, parties may rely on ASTM E1527-21 to satisfy All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended, 42...more
Last month, a federal court judge in the Eastern District of Washington concluded that deposition of aerial emissions from a smokestack could support a claim for arranger liability under Washington’s cleanup statute, the...more
Even though polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have not been manufactured in the U.S. for over forty years, they continue to be present in building materials, including in caulk and joint materials, paint, siding, roofing, and...more
On July 1, 2021, EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) issued a memorandum to all EPA Regional Offices urging the offices to increase cleanup program enforcement under the Comprehensive Environmental...more
On May 24, the Supreme Court weighed in on an issue that for decades has bedeviled litigants under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA): When can potentially responsible parties...more
5/26/2021
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Water Act ,
Clean-Up Costs ,
Consent Decrees ,
Contribution Claims ,
Cost Recovery ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Remediation Costs ,
Guam ,
Guam v United States ,
Hazardous Waste ,
SCOTUS ,
Statute of Limitations ,
U.S. Navy
Summary -
Private landowners at a federal Superfund site cannot use state law claims to require additional remediation without advance EPA approval, based on a limitation in the Comprehensive Environmental Response,...more
4/23/2020
/ Approval Requirements ,
Atlantic Richfield Co v Christian ,
CERCLA ,
Clean-Up Costs ,
Contaminated Properties ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Land Owners ,
MT Supreme Court ,
Nuisance ,
Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Site Remediation ,
State Law Claims ,
Strict Liability ,
Trespass
An April 11, 2019 decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana illustrates the challenges of contracting away CERCLA liability even when contractual negotiations occur between sophisticated parties....more
On May 24, 2018, in a significant decision with far-reaching implications for cleanups at Washington’s contaminated sites, the Washington State Supreme Court narrowed the scope of “owner or operator” liability under the state...more