We see it time and again: violations of hazardous waste regulations occur because employees are not aware of requirements, don’t understand them or, worse, cut corners. Here are our top ten hazardous waste mistakes you don’t...more
On June 1, 2017, President Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement (“Paris Agreement”). The Paris Agreement was signed by 195 countries in December of 2015. The goal of the...more
7/10/2017
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Air Act ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Landfills ,
Methane ,
Paris Agreement ,
Pesticides ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Superfund ,
Trump Administration
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt believes that “Superfund cleanups take too long to start and too long to complete.” That’s the impetus behind a May 22, 2017 internal memo he issued regarding EPA’s Superfund program. ...more
The Clean Power Plan (“CPP”), and its companion new source review rule, is the Obama Administration’s signature regulation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Among other things, it requires states to put...more
5/17/2017
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Waste ,
NRDC ,
Presidential Memorandum ,
Trump Administration ,
Two For One Rule
The Clean Power Plan (“CPP”), and its companion new source review rule, is the Obama Administration’s signature regulation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Among other things, it requires states to put...more
Most industrial facilities will, at some point, be inspected by an environmental regulatory agency. Generally, regulatory agencies have authority to enter public or private property that is governed by an environmental...more
Since the last edition of Environmental Notes, President Trump has taken two significant actions concerning the environment. First, he has begun the process to rescind or revise the Clean Water Rule, EPA’s regulation that...more
President Trump has wasted no time in acting on his environmental agenda. On January 24, his second working day in office, the President signed two Executive Orders giving the green light to construction of the Keystone and...more
There’s a new sheriff in town. Donald Trump’s election as President is likely to lead to significant changes in environmental regulation for American businesses. Some changes can (and will) take place very quickly, with the...more
EPA has revised its procedures for making certain changes to its “Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods,” also known as SW-846. The test method and its compendium of guidance documents provide...more
If there’s any good news for industry in the recent 162-page decision issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on the Boiler MACT, we can’t find it. The court rejected all challenges by industry...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
8/11/2016
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Boiler MACT Rule ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Department of Environmental Quality ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Distributors ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Interim Rule ,
Labeling ,
Landfills ,
Manufacturers ,
Methane ,
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) ,
OSHA ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Risk Assessment ,
Solid Waste ,
SSM Periods ,
State Implementation Plans (SIPs) ,
Title V ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
UN GHS
The United States Supreme Court has handed regulated parties their second win in four years concerning when they can take EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to court over wetlands permitting issues. In 2012, the...more
7/20/2016
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Final Action ,
Hawkes Co v United States Army Corps of Engineers ,
Judicial Review ,
Jurisdictional Determination (JD) ,
Land Owners ,
Mining ,
Permits ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Wetlands
CONGRESS FINDS THE FORMULA TO REFORM CHEMICAL REGULATION -
The Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) is the primary federal law by which the manufacture, import and use of chemical substances are regulated in the United...more
7/20/2016
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Air Pollution ,
Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Comment Period ,
Construction Industry ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Final Action ,
Final Rules ,
Hawkes Co v United States Army Corps of Engineers ,
Jurisdictional Determination (JD) ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Manufacturers ,
MATS ,
Mining ,
Occupational Exposure ,
OSHA ,
Power Plants ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Sackett ,
SCOTUS ,
Shipbuilding ,
Silica ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
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
5/20/2016
/ Air Pollution ,
Clean Air Act ,
Coal Ash ,
Consent Decrees ,
Deepwater Horizon ,
Department of Environmental Quality ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Environmental Crimes ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Communication Standard ,
Hazardous Waste ,
Individual Accountability ,
OSHA ,
RCRA ,
Safety Data Sheets ,
Sierra Club ,
Solid Waste ,
SSM Periods ,
Superfund ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Training Requirements ,
Utilities Sector ,
Workplace Safety ,
Yates Memorandum
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
3/17/2016
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
CERCLA ,
Certiorari ,
Chesapeake Bay ,
Clean Water Act ,
Comment Period ,
Damages ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Farm Bureau ,
Groundwater ,
Hawkes Co v United States Army Corps of Engineers ,
Indemnification ,
Judicial Review ,
Jurisdictional Determination (JD) ,
Permits ,
Property Owners ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Real Estate Transfers ,
SCOTUS ,
Superfund ,
Takings Clause ,
TMDL ,
TX Supreme Court ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Vapor Intrusion ,
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) ,
Waters of the United States ,
Watershed ,
Wetlands
The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked implementation of President Obama’s signature plan to address climate change pending a decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on the plan’s legality. The Clean Power Plan is being...more
2/18/2016
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Clean Water Act ,
Duke Energy ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Waste ,
Justice Scalia ,
Order to Stay ,
Permits ,
SCOTUS ,
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
Waste Management
The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked implementation of President Obama’s signature plan to address climate change pending a decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on the plan’s legality. The Clean Power Plan is being...more
Dominion Virginia Power (Dominion) operates a coalfired power plant in Chesapeake, Virginia. It maintains permits for its operations, including a Virginia solid waste management permit and a Virginia Pollutant Discharge...more
You're looking through your mail one morning when you see it: a certified letter from EPA. The letter requests information about your company's operations over the last 20 years. It includes paragraph-after-paragraph of...more
EPA has issued a final rule applicable to new and existing underground storage tanks (“USTs”). The rule is the first significant amendment to EPA’s 1988 UST regulations. Here are some of the highlights....more
EPA has issued a final rule tightening the primary ozone national ambient air quality standard (“NAAQS”) down to 70 ppb from the 75 ppb limit established in 2008. The new NAAQS takes effect on December 28, 2015 (despite the...more
In a significant setback for the Obama Administration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has temporarily blocked implementation of the Clean Water Rule issued jointly by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...more
10/28/2015
/ Barack Obama ,
CERCLA ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Rule ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Hazardous Waste ,
Importers ,
Imports ,
Proposed Amendments ,
RCRA ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ,
U.S. Customs ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waste Management ,
Waters of the United States
In a significant setback for the Obama Administration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has temporarily blocked implementation of the Clean Water Rule issued jointly by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...more
The Clean Water Rule recently issued by EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers defines the scope of federal jurisdiction over wetlands and other “waters of the United States.”[1] It’s effective on August 28, 2015, so you need...more
8/26/2015
/ Appeals ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Clean Water Act ,
Clean Water Rule ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Navigable Waters ,
Rapanos v US ,
Real Estate Development ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 404 ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands