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, […]
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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 […]
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by Patrick J. Paul On Wednesday July 21, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the PFAS Action Act of 2021. The bill, H.R. 2467, passed 241-183 demonstrating its bipartisan support, with twenty-three Republicans joining their Democratic colleagues in supporting the legislation. H.R. 2467 would regulate toxic chemicals found in drinking water, as well as […]
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by Michael C. Ford A decade of lingering uncertainty for the mining industry regarding potentially billions of dollars in new regulatory compliance costs is now over (at least for now) as a result of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s recent decision in Idaho Conservation League v. Wheeler (No. 18-1141). EPA […]
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by Michael C. Ford and Mitchell J. Klein If you haven’t heard of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), you likely will soon. Like DDT, PCBs, asbestos, and MTBE before it, PFAS are a class of chemicals that have been used in a wide variety of commercial and industrial products, only to have potential adverse environmental and […]
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by John D. Burnside In a stunning change of course, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced on December 1, 2017, that it would not issue final regulations imposing financial responsibility requirements on hardrock mining operations to fund the estimated cost of future Superfund cleanup. EPA’s decision effectively withdraws proposed rules published January 11, 2017, […]
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By Maribeth M. Klein Last week, a United States District Court in Arizona held that the United States was an “owner” of Navajo Reservation Trust Land for purposes of CERCLA liability. See El Paso Nat. Gas Co. v. United States, 2017 WL 3492993 (D. Ariz. Aug. 15, 2017). After entering into an Administrative Order on […]
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by Mitchell J. Klein In a recent unpublished case, the Superior Court of New Jersey held that the Plaintiff in a CERCLA case had committed spoliation when, during the course of the remedial activity, it disposed of various contaminated materials. See Pollitt Drive, LLC v. Harvey Engel. While the case does not establish any precedent, […]
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by Mark D. Johnson Under CERCLA activities to clean up hazardous substances are characterized as either “removal actions” or “remedial actions.” Generally, removal actions are interim actions to clean up or remove hazardous materials. 42 U.S.C. § 9601(23). Remedial actions are efforts to permanently remedy the presence of hazardous materials. Id. § 9601(23). A claim […]
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In a recent rulemaking, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amended its “All Appropriate Inquiries Rule” (set forth in 40 CFR Part 312) to reference in the rule ASTM Standard E1527-13. ASTM Standard E1527-13 is the recently updated version of the industry standard that is commonly used to conduct Phase I environmental investigations that are undertaken […]
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