On March 4, the U.S. Supreme Court (“SCOTUS” or the “Court”) issued a decision in San Francisco v. EPA that invalidated certain “end-result” water quality limitations in NPDES permits — specifically, those that “do not spell...more
3/11/2025
/ City and County of San Francisco v Environmental Protection Agency ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NPDES ,
Permits ,
Pollution Control ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
State and Local Government ,
Wastewater ,
Water Quality
In a controversial change, the 2015 version of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) general permit for industrial stormwater discharges (known as the Multi-Sector General Permit, or MSGP) expressly prohibits the...more
EPA plans to propose new regulations this year to address the management of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The agency anticipates issuing a notice of proposed...more
On December 23, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an opinion rejecting on the merits a petition filed by 101 environmental groups seeking to compel EPA to regulate spent lead bullets and shot under...more
On December 10, 2014, EPA released a prepublication version of its long-awaited final rule revising regulations affecting hazardous materials recyclers under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”). The rule,...more
On August 21, 2014, the Texas Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments in an ongoing dispute between a homeowner and Texas-based oil driller Range Resources Corp. The case is not a typical homeowner vs. oil driller...more
8/28/2014
/ Anti-SLAPP ,
Appeals ,
Contamination ,
Defamation ,
Disparagement ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Fracking ,
Methane ,
Oil & Gas ,
Underground Injection Wells ,
Water Supplies
On June 17, 2014, EPA published a Proposed Rule to no longer acknowledge the 2005 version of ASTM International’s recently updated version of its standard for environmental site assessments – Standard 1527-13 – to meet the...more
Following a ruling by the D.C. Circuit, EPA may no longer consider interrelatedness in determining adjacency when making source determination decisions in its Title V or New Source Review permitting decisions under the Clean...more
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has opened the door for judicial review of CERCLA citizen suits challenging the completed portions of some cleanup actions even when cleanup at the site is ongoing. The case is Frey v....more
On December 30, 2013, EPA published a Final Rule providing that a prospective purchaser or tenant of contaminated property may use ASTM International’s recently updated version of its standard for environmental site...more
Effective as of December 6, 2013, EPA has increased the civil penalties for 20 of the 88 statutory civil penalty provisions that the agency administers. The majority of civil penalties are unchanged because of the low rate of...more
EPA recently posted a March 19, 2013 petition for rulemaking by environmental groups seeking to amend the regulations governing the Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems source category (Subpart W) of EPA’s Mandatory Greenhouse...more
Tenants who lease currently or formerly contaminated property can now benefit from protections from cleanup liability that were once available only to purchasers of such property. EPA announced its new policy in a December...more
2/18/2013
/ Bona Fide Purchaser ,
Brownfield Properties ,
CERCLA ,
Commercial Leases ,
Contaminated Properties ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Remediation Costs ,
Landlords ,
Superfund ,
Tenants