Your Guide to Emerging Issues in Environmental Regulation and Litigation.
Late last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in New Jersey Conversation Foundation, et al. v. FERC, unanimously vacated the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of the Transcontinental (Transco) Gas Pipe Line Company Regional Energy Access Expansion Project. The roughly $950 million gas pipeline project involves the construction … Continued
On August 6, the Environmental Protection Agency issued an Emergency Order directing the suspension of all registrations issued under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for pesticide products containing the active ingredient dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA), also marketed under the trade name Dacthal. According to EPA, this is the “first time in almost 40 … Continued
Opportunity knocks for water treatment entities to provide their input on new regulations about to be rolled out by EPA that could either boost or harm their businesses. The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires EPA to establish a panel, including small businesses that may be economically impacted before any revisions to regulations become effective. But beware, … Continued
Through the modern industrial age, there’s always been a push-and-pull between the utility of our innovations and the risks they often inadvertently create. In the 70’s, we discovered the synthetic pesticide that was so effectively combating typhus and malaria, DDT, was causing breast cancer and impairing neurological development in babies. In the 80’s and 90’s, … Continued
The Environmental Protection Agency intends to issue a rule updating its Clean Air Act emission standards for new and existing municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills to cut methane and other harmful landfill gas emissions. The rule follows another Clean Air Act-related proposal the EPA issued in January, designed to reduce emissions of nine pollutants, including … Continued
The Environmental Protection Agency’s implementation of the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards “Good Neighbor Plan” (GNP) was met with a fury of legal challenges (see ELM’s previous coverage of EPA’s GNP here). Then, on June 27, the Supreme Court in Ohio v. EPA (Ohio) issued a 5-4 opinion granting a temporary stay of … Continued
Plastics are inescapable. They are used in packaging, home supplies, medical devices, and countless other items. Naturally then, over the past several years, and as covered by ELM and GS’s Toxic Tort and Environmental Law team, microplastics have gained notoriety in the United States. These small fragments of plastic, smaller five millimeters, have increasingly been … Continued
In one of its last official acts before starting its summer recess earlier this month, the California legislature passed a bill putting Prop 4 on the November ballot, which would allow the state to borrow $10 billion plus interest toward addressing climate change. Before it gained the moniker “Prop 4,” the bond measure was initially … Continued
As coastal erosion continues to shrink beaches, the sand that remains has become ever more valuable; and in Maine, a battle over the beach has reached the state’s highest court. In most coastal states, the intertidal land — (the land subject to the ebb and flow of the tides) — is owned by the state … Continued
On July 11, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued updated recommendations under the Clean Water Act for contaminants that states, Tribes, and territories should consider monitoring in locally caught, freshwater fish. For the first time, the EPA has added several per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) to the contaminant list (e.g., PFDA, PFHxS, PFNA, PFOA, PFOS), … Continued