Your Guide to Emerging Issues in Environmental Regulation and Litigation.
In the past couple of years, multiple states across the nation have made various attempts to attract cryptocurrency mining centers at which the virtual currency is “mined” on a colossal scale — a process requiring a significant amount of energy — through legislation and business and tax incentives (covered extensively by ELM, including here and here). After what …
At the beginning of this year, ELM forecasted that 2025 would be a big year for the National Environmental Policy Act (previously covered by ELM here), and so far, our prediction continues to ring true. In the latest NEPA news, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the …
A high-stakes environmental trial is unfolding in New Jersey, where the state is taking on E.I. DuPont de Nemours and its related entities over widespread PFAS contamination at the former Chamber Works facility in Salem County. The outcome of this case — one of the most closely watched environmental proceedings in the country — could …
As regularly reported by the Environmental Law Monitor, state legislatures have increasingly been taking action independent of federal government regulation to address the significant challenge of eliminating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS from their jurisdictions. Shortly after the Environmental Protection Agency finalized its first-ever drinking water standards for six PFAS in …
Another major settlement was announced this week in New Jersey in consolidated cases filed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and other state entities. (You can review the Judicial Consent Order here as well as previously PFAS settlements reported by our firm here and here, including in New Jersey for remediation costs.) Settling plaintiffs, …
The Environmental Protection Agency announced May 6 it had reached a settlement with Scranton, Pa. schools regarding alleged asbestos violations. The EPA alleged the school district had failed “to include all required elements in the asbestos management plans for 15 schools,” and that it failed, “to maintain complete, updated copies of the asbestos management plans …
The U.S. Department of Justice filed lawsuits against New York and several other states, challenging their newly enacted state Superfund laws (Superfund lawsuits). The laws aim to address the environmental damages attributed to climate change by requiring fossil fuel companies to contribute to state-managed funds designated for climate adaptation and cleanup efforts. The lawsuits raise …
The Environmental Protection Agency announced April 28 a list of upcoming agency actions to address Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). This week’s announcement provides a broad outline of EPA’s plans that centers around three principles: (1) strengthening the scientific understanding of PFAS, (2) fulfilling statutory obligations and enhancing communication, and (3) building partnerships. PFAS are …
As we reflect on environmental stewardship this week, the accelerating loss of biodiversity remains one of the most critical challenges facing our planet. Healthy ecosystems provide essential services – clean air and water, pollination, climate regulation, and more – underpinning human well-being and economic stability. While international efforts aim to address this crisis, action within …
The question of whether ethylene oxide emissions constitute traditional environmental pollution for the purpose of interpreting commercial general liability pollution exclusions remains unsettled in many jurisdictions across the United States. The issue may soon receive greater clarity in Illinois — and more broadly within the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals — in response to a …