by Patrick Paul, Chris Colyer, Michael Ford In prior blogs (available here and here), we’ve reported on changes to certain federal and state environmental enforcement policies related to COVID-19. In a nutshell, these policies essentially clarified the enforcement priorities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and certain other state agencies like the Arizona Department […]
By Patrick Paul, Chris Colyer and Michael Ford On April 10, 2020, the U.S. EPA published “Interim Guidance on Site Field Work Decisions Due to Impacts of COVID-19.” Directed specifically to the Agency’s Regional Administrators, the interim guidance was issued for response actions related to cleanup and emergency response sites where EPA is the lead agency […]
by Patrick J. Paul, Chris Colyer, and Michael C. Ford On March 31, 2020, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) issued a Memorandum of Compliance and Enforcement Implementation During COVID-19. This memo of compliance is consistent with the March 26, 2020 United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Memorandum entitled COVID-19 Implications for EPA’s Enforcement […]
By Michael C. Ford EPA announced on March 26, 2020 a temporary enforcement policy regarding EPA enforcement of environmental legal obligations. In general, EPA does not expect to seek penalties for violations of routine compliance monitoring, integrity testing, sampling, laboratory analysis, training, and reporting or certification obligations in situations where EPA agrees that COVID-19 was […]
by L. William Staudenmaier The United Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued guidance (https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/coronavirus-and-drinking-water-and-wastewater#tapwater) regarding the status of public drinking water systems in light of the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus across the country. In the guidance document, EPA states that “[b]ased on current evidence, the risk to water supplies is low. Americans can […]
by Patrick J. Paul and Chris Colyer As previously reported in this blog, on December 4, 2019 EPA published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) seeking information on whether to include certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on the list of toxic chemicals subject to reporting under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and […]
By Patrick Paul & Chris Colyer Although EPA announced an “action plan” on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) back in February, subsequent actions have been limited, that is, until recently. First created in the 1940s, PFAS are most commonly utilized to make products such as nonstick cookware, grease-resistant food packaging, stain repellents, and firefighting foams. […]
by Mitchell J. Klein Reported to be at the direction of the Department of Justice, the EPA is now requiring that anyone willing to enter into an Administrative Order of Consent must first agree to surrender all claims against the United States and any Federal Agency for the work to be performed. While it has […]
by Andrew Hawes In 2014, what did Idaho, New Mexico, New Hampshire and Massachusetts have in common? Answer: the only states in the Union where pollutant discharge in waterways was overseen by the federal government (the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), rather than the state. At the time, pollutant discharge permitting was administered though the National […]
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 […]
