Environmental Law Monitor

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Close up the pouring purified fresh drink water from the bottle on table in living room

February 16, 2023 • Environmental Law Monitor, EPA, PFAS

EPA: $2 Billion in Funds to Address Emerging Contaminants, Build on PFAS Strategic Roadmap

The EPA announced Monday the availability of $2 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address emerging contaminants such as Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in drinking water across the country. This investment, allocated to states and territories, will be made available to communities as grants through EPA’s Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities (EC-SDC) Grant …

Garbage pile in trash dump or landfill. Pollution concept.

February 16, 2023 • Climate Change, Emissions, Environmental Law Monitor

Waste Reduction Programs to Take on Climate Change

In 2015, California’s former governor Edmund Brown Jr. set methane emissions-reduction targets for the state. Senate Bill 1383 requires that California reduce organic waste disposal 75 percent by the year 2025. Although most Californians did not begin to understand what these targets meant, 2022 marked the beginning of new waste disposal requirements for many statewide. These requirements …

February 9, 2023 • Coal Ash, Environmental Law Monitor, EPA

EPA Being Pushed Off the Fence on Coal Ash

With names like “boiler slag” and “bottom ash,” it’s no wonder that anyone who has ever heard of coal ash, or the coal combustion residuals (CCRs) produced from burning coal, assumes they are the basest forms of pollution. And they’re not entirely wrong; bottom ash is the burn-up matter that is too large to be …

February 9, 2023 • Emerging Issues, Environmental Law Monitor, President Biden

European Union Moves to Create Subsidy Regime to Counteract U.S. Clean-Tech Policies

The European Union plans to push back against the clean-tech tax breaks provided in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) by easing subsidy rules and creating a new source of money to help member states compete with the United States. Some EU members see aspects of the IRA as discriminatory, designed to benefit U.S. climate tech …

February 2, 2023 • Due Diligence, Environmental Law Monitor, EPA

Advancing Environmental Justice: EPA Releases New Roadmap to Address Cumulative Impacts

The Environmental Protection Agency recently published a Cumulative Impacts Addendum (“Addendum”) to its Legal Tools to Advance Environmental Justice (“EJ Legal Tools”), issued in May 2022. This Addendum builds on the cumulative impacts discussion in the EJ Legal Tools and provides additional detail and analysis regarding the EPA’s legal authority to address cumulative impacts affecting …

"justice concept, selective focus on nearest part ,lens blur f/x"

February 2, 2023 • Emerging Issues, Emissions, Environmental Law Monitor

New Sprawling EtO Litigations Mount as Our Pandemic-Shaken World Increasingly Relies on Commercial Sterilizers

Right on the heels of the eye-popping $408 million settlement between a major commercial sterilizer and plaintiffs claiming injuries resulting from exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO) emitted from the company’s Illinois facility (covered by ELM here), the company now faces two different legal actions initiated by two new groups of plaintiffs but similarly stemming from …

A fleet of US postal service vehicles parked in a line.

January 26, 2023 • Electric Vehicles, Environmental Law Monitor, President Biden

You’ll Soon Be Getting Your Mail Delivered by Electric Vehicles

Biden administration officials announced on December 20, 2022, that the U.S. Postal Service intends to purchase over 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028, which would create one of the nation’s largest electric fleets in an effort to fight climate change. To reach this goal, the USPS announced that it plans to purchase 60,000 so-called “Next Generation …

January 26, 2023 • Environmental Law Monitor, Litigation, PFAS

States Increasing Regulation of PFAS Products Heralds Increased Litigation

More and more state legislatures are looking to PFAS exposure as one of the main focuses of their new environmental regulations. As of this month, Maine banned the sale of residential carpets containing PFAS and became the first state to require companies to report products containing the chemicals. Maine’s law will ban all non-essential PFAS …

January 19, 2023 • Clean Air Act, Environmental Law Monitor, EPA

EPA Proposes Revisions to Particulate Matter NAAQS Under the Clean Air Act

In early January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposal to revise and strengthen a key national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for fine particle pollution, also known as PM2.5. The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set two types of NAAQS: health-based standards, called primary standards, and standards to protect public welfare, called secondary standards. Based on …

A man's hand in a blue glove takes a close-up of water into a test tube to measure water pollution. Background

January 19, 2023 • Environmental Law Monitor, EPA, Wastewater

EPA Seeks Input From the Slaughterhouse to Reduce Nutrients in Discharged Wastewater

On Jan. 18, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it is seeking input regarding the development of Meat and Poultry Products (“MPP”) Effluent Limitations Guidelines Rulemaking Revision. As part of this process the EPA seeks to put together a Small Business Advocacy Review Panel. The EPA is looking to gather comments and suggestions from small entity representatives. Changes …