The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (“ADEQ”) filed suit against a company alleging that it was violating an Administrative Consent Order (“ACO”). What made the lawsuit unusual was that ADEQ also sued 3 individual officers of the company, alleging that because the company was small, the individual Officers and Board members were each “operators” and […]
Using a rarely invoked exception to the Administrative Procedure Act’s requirement for public notice and comment prior to issuing a new rule, the EPA set forth a new rule governing jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Believing that this new rule was urgently needed in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court eviscerating the […]
While various States have enacted various regulations covering a wide variety of differing standards over the years, the EPA never created a national standard for remedial or drinking water levels. Finally, after decades of considering proposals and counter proposals, the EPA made a “final” determination in July 2020 during the Trump administration that perchlorate was […]
by Mitchell J. Klein Environmental practitioners are well aware of the astonishing breadth and scope of the impacts resulting from the investigations into the ubiquitous presence of the so-called “forever chemicals”, including the significant efforts being expended at both the State and Federal level on regulating their use and establishing remedial standards. But PRPs, landowners, […]
by Mitchell J. Klein In a memo to agency leadership sent earlier this month, EPA Administrator Michael Regan rescinded practices that were instituted by one of his Trump-era predecessors, Scott Pruitt, to eliminate what has been referred to by some as “sue and settle” tactics. While the settlement of lawsuits is, of course, a common […]
by Mitchell J. Klein The Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill, which passed Aug. 10, contains a provision that would bring back an excise tax that expired in 1995 on a lengthy list of raw chemicals. House Democrats also want it to cover crude oil. In addition to this new tax stream, the House has already approved […]
by Mitchell J. Klein As most people are aware, various public and private entities have filed lawsuits against fossil fuel producers alleging a variety of claims that seek to enjoin behavior and obtain damages as a result of the defendants’ contributions toward climate change. But the question arises as to whether the plaintiffs will be […]
by Mitchell J. Klein The EPA and the Corps of Engineers are seeing an unprecedented amount of requests for determining whether or not an activity impacts a Water of the United States and triggers Clean Water Act restrictions and permitting. As the lawsuits challenging the current rule begin to move forward, and the current administration […]
by Mitchell J. Klein Somewhat lost amidst all the (well deserved) COVID-19 pandemic news that comes out daily, is a decision by the Justice Department regarding the settlement of environmental enforcement cases that will likely have profound impacts. The current administration has decided to ban the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (“SEPs”) as a tool […]
by Mitchell J. Klein Because proving who is responsible for introducing PFAS contamination into water supplies can be difficult and expensive, and pursuing government entities such as military bases, firefighting training facilities and airports is particularly problematic, the manufacturers of PFAS-containing products appear to be easier targets. Thus, private well owners and public water utilities that […]
