[Webinar] Growing Greener: Navigating Environmental Laws in the Cannabis Industry
The United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued an April 23rd news release stating that a federal judge in Oregon sentenced two companies responsible for the operation of the J.H. Baxter wood treatment facility in...more
Under the Clean Air Act, sources frequently must undergo “New Source Review” (NSR) permitting, which is a pre-construction permitting program. NSR establishes requirements for new or modified sources prior to initiating...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized regulations impacting a large swath of refrigeration and cooling equipment industries. The new regulations are the most recent EPA action addressing the use of...more
The Biden-Harris Administration recently issued a suite of new rules aimed at addressing water and air quality, reducing methane emissions, protecting environmental justice communities, and accelerating the nation’s...more
The United States District Court (Eastern District Wisconsin) (“Court”) addressed in a July 27th Order a request by the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) acting on behalf of the United States Environmental...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published in the January 12th Federal Register a Request for Public Comment on the National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives (“NECIs”) it is proposing for fiscal...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) oversees policy and guidance for the EPA’s hazard response and waste programs. In October 2022, OLEM released its Environmental Justice...more
On September 22, 2022, the Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) issued an Order finalizing a recent decision of an EPA Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that rejected...more
A United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrative Law Judge Christine Donelian Coughlin (“ALJ”) interpreted the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) term “manufacturing process unit” (“MPU”) in...more
A few considerations practitioners should keep in mind when dealing with contamination involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. The PFAS Action Act of 2021 passed in the House and was received in...more
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (“Court”) addressed in a June 29th Memorandum and Order (“Order”) certain issues arising out of a class action alleging a plant operating in Metropolis,...more
A Note to Our Readers: Although the coronavirus and its many disruptions are dominating the news, we will continue to publish the California Environmental Law and Policy Update so long as there are newsworthy developments in...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the United States Department of Navy (“Navy”) entered into a June 4th Consent Agreement and Final Order (“Consent Agreement”) addressing alleged violations of the...more
Do air emissions of hazardous substances create a cleanup liability under the Superfund? In the closely watched case of Pakootas, et al. v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd., the Ninth Circuit said, “no,” becoming the highest court...more
Federal - Notice of Availability of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Two Updated Chapters in the EPA Air Pollution Control Cost Manual - EPA is making two finalized chapters of the EPA Air Pollution Control...more
On July 29, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit released a very longno (156 pages) opinion essentially upholding every regulatory decision made by the EPA in three major Clean Air Act (CAA) rulemakings: the...more
Decision finds operator of a lead and zinc smelter not liable as an “arranger” under CERCLA for aerial deposition of heavy metals. On July 27, a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously held...more
In a case of first impression, this week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the owner of a Canadian smelter was not liable as a person who “arranged for disposal” of hazardous substances when it emitted those...more
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued in the long-running Pakootas v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd. litigation another important decision further defining the scope of liability under the federal Comprehensive...more
Certain regulated entities that operate under Clean Air Act permits are being reminded that those permits do not necessarily cover air emissions associated with the management of hazardous wastes regulated by the federal...more
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
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq. (“CERCLA”) imposes fairly broad liability on potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”) to pay for the investigation and...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on December 19, 2014, issued a much anticipated and certain to be controversial final rule under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) on the RCRA regulatory status...more