Environmental Newsletters
Taft’s Environmental Practice publishes a newsletter examining and highlighting environmental law developments on this ever-changing area of law. To subscribe, click here.
- March 2024 Environmental Newsletter
- US EPA Seeks to Eliminate PFAS From HDPE Plastic Containers
- Closed Tennessee Landfill Sued Under the Clean Water Act for Alleged PFAS in Permitted Discharges
- Proposed Vermont Legislation Seeks to Address PFAS Risks Associated with Fluorinated HDPE Packaging
- EPA Sets the Stage to List PFAS as a Hazardous Waste
- MPCA Seeks Comments on Currently Unavoidable Uses of Intentionally Added PFAS
- January 2024 Environmental Newsletter
- Sokolowski’s Ecology Research Published in Scientific Journal
- Federal Court Gives New Template for CERCLA Divisibility Claims
- US Department of Defense Warns Against Overbroad Regulation of PFAS
- EPA Official Indicates PFAS Hazardous Substance Designation Under Superfund May Lead to Reopening Past Cleanup Actions
- US Continues Disposing of PFAS Waste Despite Known Dangers
- Surge in PFAS Litigation Raises Bankruptcy Fears Among Downstream Users of PFAS
- November 2023 Environmental Newsletter
- EPA Releases Long-Awaited Final PFAS Reporting Rule Creating Expansive 12-Year Lookback Period
- Consumer Product Safety Commission Publishes Request for Information on PFAS in Consumer Products
- EPA Releases Long-Awaited Final PFAS Reporting Rule
- California Attorney General Reinforces Intent to Pursue Enforcement Actions Against Violators of New PFAS Content Law
- Proposed EPA Rule Would Eliminate the De Minimis Exemption for Reporting PFAS Under the Toxics Release Inventory, and Would Require Disclosure of PFAS in Chemical Mixtures and Finished Products
- September 2023 Environmental Newsletter
- EGLE Issues General Consent Order for CAFOs With Anaerobic Digesters Owned by Separate Entities
- EPA Issues Proposed Rule To Streamline Requirements for State and Tribal Assumption of CWA Section 404 Programs
- EPA Issues Final Rule Diminishing Federal Jurisdiction Over Wetlands
- EGLE Sues Grand Rapids Airport Authority Over PFAS Discharge
- Michigan Court of Appeals Decision Upends State’s Regulation of PFAS in Drinking Water
- Taft and Lawyers Leading PFAS Litigation Nationwide Announce Significant Developments
- July 2023 Environmental Newsletter
- US Supreme Court Rules Against Navajo Nation in Water Rights Case
- SCOTUS Opinion Narrows Waters Subject to Federal Regulation
- 6th Circuit Declines to Resolve PFAS Coverage Dispute
- EPA Announces New Framework for New PFAS in Industry
- EPA Releases New Method of Testing for PFAS in Pesticide Products
- Settlement Announced with 3M in PFAS Contaminated Drinking Water Cases
- January 2023 Environmental Newsletter
- Setting a New Standard – EPA Initiates Rulemaking To Adopt ASTM Issues E1527-21 as a New Standard for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments
- Federal Court Ruling Could Raise the Bar for Proving Causation Under CERCLA
- EPA and US Army Corps of Engineers Publish Final WOTUS Rule
- November 2022 Environmental Newsletter
- EPA Publishes Contaminant Candidate List 5 and Includes Broad PFAS Group for First Time
- EPA Issues Interim FAQs on How Environmental Justice Will Affect Permitting
- New California Bill Restricts PFAS Content in Textiles
- EPA Proposes Listing PFOA and PFOS as Hazardous Substances
- August 2022 Environmental Newsletter
- US Supreme Court Ruling Limits EPA Authority To Regulate Carbon Emissions Under the Clean Air Act
- Fourth Circuit Decision Suggests Trend in Expanding Access to CWA Citizen Suits
- Mere Compliance With FIFRA Is Not Always Enough to Preempt Failure To Warn Claims on Pesticide Labels
- New CA Legislation Requires All Single-use Packaging To Be Recyclable by 2032
- Reinstated Superfund Excise Tax Now in Effect, but Questions Remain as to Calculation of Tax Rates for Certain Substances
- February 2022 Environmental Newsletter
- Deveau and Guevara Author Second Edition of The Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser Defense
- CERCLA Liability for PFAS Contamination on Track to Begin in 2023
- EPA Extends Deadline for the Expiration of Existing Pesticide Applicator Certification Plans to Nov. 4, 2022
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Proposes Several Hundred New Impaired Waters in 2022
- Presidential Executive Order Limits Federal Government Purchase and Use of PFAS
- December 2021 Environmental Newsletter
- EPA Indefinitely Extends Emerging Viral Pathogen Guidance for COVID-19
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Issues a Comprehensive Draft PFAS Monitoring Plan
- Part I: Wastewater Monitoring Program.
- Part II: Remediation Program Plan.
- Part III: Air Monitoring Program.
- Part IV: Solid and Hazardous Waste Monitoring Program.
- Part V: Stormwater Monitoring Program.
- October 2021 Environmental Newsletter
- EPA Announces Strategic Roadmap to Tackle PFAS From All Directions
- Troubled Water: Ninth Circuit Allows Trial on City’s RCRA Liability for Distributing Contaminated Groundwater
- EPA Releases New Testing Method in Ongoing Effort To Address PFAS Contamination in Pesticide Packaging
- Significant Changes Proposed for Minnesota Certificate of Need, Siting, and Routing Rules for Large Electric Generating Facilities and High-Voltage Transmission Lines
- Seventh Circuit Clarifies Standard for Apportionment in CERCLA § 107(a) Cases
- Seventh Circuit Confirms That Strict Compliance is Necessary To Qualify for CERCLA’s BFPP Defense
- August 2021 Environmental Newsletter
- Ninth Circuit Rules That EPA’s 2010 WET Testing Methodology Is Not Subject to APA Review
- In a Landmark Request, NJDEP Asks USEPA To Designate the Lower Hackensack River as a Superfund Site
- Fourth Circuit Breaks From 11th Circuit, Holds Clean Air Act Is an Unambiguous Waiver of Sovereign Immunity
- June 2021 Environmental Newsletter
- SCOTUS Reinstates Guam’s CERCLA Action
- EPA Proposes New Rule To Require Reporting Under TSCA for PFAS Manufactured or Imported in the US
- Superfund Plaintiffs Permitted To Pursue Claims Under Both 113(f) and 107a of CERCLA Simultaneously
- April 2021 Environmental Newsletter
- Second Circuit Affirms Dismissal of New York City’s Climate Change Lawsuit Against Oil Companies
- Five-Year Review of USS Lead Superfund Site Provides Opportunity To Evaluate Biden Administration’s Stance on Environmental Justice
- Fourth Circuit Finds Compliance Water Act Permit Shields Mine from Violation of Mining
- Army Corps Releases Finalized Nationwide Permit Revisions
- December 2020 Environmental Newsletter
- EPA Announces Federal NPDES Permits To Require PFAS Monitoring and Additional Analytical Methods for PFAS
- EPA Imposes $6.9 Million Civil Penalty for FIFRA Violations
- October 2020 Environmental Newsletter
- California AG Appeals Proposition 65 Compelled Speech Decision in National Association of Wheat Growers, et al. v. Becerra
- The US Army Corps of Engineers Proposes Modifications to Nationwide Permits, Including Those Used By Utilities
- Fifth Circuit Holds Insurer Had No Duty to Defend Criminal Claims Under Environmental Policy
- August 2020 Environmental Newsletter
- Nationwide Permit 12 Temporarily Revived, but Keystone XL Remains Stalled
- Final Navigable Waters Protection Rule Goes Into Effect, Changing the Game for Property Developers, Farmers, and Industry Across the US
- EPA Continues Aggressive Pesticide Enforcement: Amazon and eBay Ordered to Stop Sale of Certain Pesticides Claiming Efficacy Against COVID-19
- Proposed IRS Rule Allows Deduction of EPA Fines and Penalties
- EPA Releases Temporary Guidance on Respiratory Protection for Agricultural Pesticide Handlers During COVID-19
- June 2020 Environmental Newsletter
- EPA Compliance Advisory Warns Against Making False and Misleading Product Claims Related to COVID-19
- Supreme Court Holds NPDES Permits Required for Discharges Through Groundwater
- Montana Judge Revises NWP 12 Vacatur to Allow Non-Pipeline Projects to Proceed
- EPA Announces Publication of Final Navigable Waters Protection Rule
- Holding Gives Additional Guidance on How to Satisfy “All Appropriate Inquiries”
- April 2020 Environmental Newsletter
- EPA Temporarily Amends Process for Active Ingredient Approval to Boost Supply of Disinfectants During COVID-19 Pandemic
- EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler Talks Disinfectant Products and False Claims of Effectiveness Against COVID-19
- District Court Holds CERCLA Preempts ELA’s Statute of Limitations
- EPA Announces Temporary Enforcement Policy Given COVID-19 Pandemic
- Navigating IDEM’s Revised Requirements During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Requesting Regulatory Flexibility From Ohio EPA in Response to COVID-19
- January 2020 Environmental Newsletter
- EPA Makes Inflation Adjustment to Civil Penalties
- Less Implications for PFAS Under the Final National Defense Authorization Act (2020)
- EPA Proposes Three Major Revisions to CCR Rule
- November 2019 Environmental Newsletter
- Taft’s Rob Bilott and the DuPont Legal Battle Featured in Hollywood Movie “Dark Waters” and New Book “Exposure” This Fall
- In Sentencing Order, Trucking Company Ordered to Pay $3 Million for Illegal Transport of Hazardous Materials
- PHMSA Issues Final Rules Overhauling Pipeline Safety
- Developer Convicted for Removing and Disposing of Asbestos in Violation of the Clean Air Act
- Company Sentenced to Probation & Penalties, Employees Indicted on Federal Criminal Charges for Failing to Comply with Industrial Wastewater Pretreatment Requirements
- EPA Evaluating Application for Experimental Pesticide to Combat Mosquitos
- September 2019 Environmental Newsletter
- EPA Issues Revised Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Landowner Defense Guidance
- EPA Issues Guidance to Glyphosate Registrants Regarding Inconsistent FIFRA and California Labeling Requirements
- Seventh Circuit Ends Bid to Shift 19-Year-Old Environmental Liability
- Seventh Circuit Resolves Decades-Long Wetlands Dispute in Favor of Farmer—Holds USDA Wetlands Determination Was Arbitrary
- July 2019 Environmental Newsletter
- Imminent Regulation of “Forever Chemicals” Could Impact Today’s M&A and Real Estate Deals
- Corporation Held Liable as CERCLA Arranger For Knowingly Offloading Contaminated Buildings
- Death, Taxes and CERCLA
- Exclusive or Inclusive? Supreme Court to Decide the Applicable Remedies to Those Effected by the Anaconda Smelter Superfund Site
- Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Arsenal Is the Subject of Ongoing Litigation Over Environmental Cleanup
- May 2019 Environmental Newsletter
- Cement Plant Must Seek Rezoning to Burn Liquid Waste Derived Fuel
- California City Held Responsible for Half of Future PCE Cleanup Costs For Failing to Maintain its Sewer System
- Ohio’s Personal Participation Theory and its Effect on Shareholder Liability
- March 2019 Environmental Newsletter
- Solicitor General Files Brief in Support of Supreme Court Review in Hawaii Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui
- Court Untangles Comingled Plume of Liability and Provides BFPP Guidance in Von Durpin LLC v. Moran Electric Service, Inc. et. al.
- EPA Announces Next Cycle of National Compliance Initiatives With New Focus on Drinking Water and Lead Exposure
- January 2019 Environmental Newsletter
- Sixth Circuit Rules Clean Water Act Only Regulates Direct Discharges
- Ten Year Statute of Limitations Applies to Environmental Legal Action Statute
- Trinity, the Corporate Form and How to Avoid Parent-Subsidiary CERCLA Liability
- October 2018 Environmental Newsletter
- Dry Cleaning Machine Manufacturer Not Liable Under Indiana’s ELA Statute
- Fourth Circuit Rules Passive Ash Surface Impoundments Are Not Point Sources
- Non-Retailers Beware: New California Proposition 65 Regulations Are in Effect
- Caveat Emptor: Ninth Circuit Finds CERCLA Third-Party Defense Unavailable to Purchaser in Tax Sale
- July 2018 Environmental Newsletter
- Renewable Energy and Natural Gas to Make Up Most of 2018 Electric Capacity Additions
- D.C. Circuit Affirms Regional Circuit Interpretations of Clean Air Act Only Bind EPA in That Regional Circuit
- Washington Federal Court Rules Site Characterization Costs Under Consent Agreement Are Not “Defense Costs”
- Texas Finds Individual Liable for Corporate Environmental Violation
- November 2017 Environmental Newsletter
- 9th Circuit Holds Government Must Share in Cleanup Costs for Defense Contractor’s Site
- Government Clarifies FDA and EPA Jurisdiction Over Mosquito-Related Products
- Food and Drug Administration Reaffirms 2005 Enforcement Guidance Regarding Permissible Pesticide Residues on Food
- EPA Issues Guidance to Combat Pesticide Resistance
- Tyson Poultry Pleads Guilty and Agrees to Pay $2.5 Million for Clean Water Act Violations
- February 2018 Environmental Newsletter
- U.S. Imposes Tariff on Solar Equipment Imports
- Analyzing Contribution Claims under § 113(f) of CERCLA—Moving Beyond the Gore Factors
- EPA Preliminarily Concludes That Glyphosate is Not Likely to be Carcinogenic to Humans
- April 2018 Environmental Newsletter
- The Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development Act of 2018: What’s changing for the Brownfields Program?
- Indiana Reaffirms Common Law Common Enemy Doctrine
- State Environmental Agencies Are Turning to Superfund to Address Vapor Intrusion Issues at Complex Sites
- September 2017 Environmental Newsletter
- States and Environmental Groups Sue to Prevent EPA Delay of RMP Rule
- Greasing the Wheels of Environmental Remediation
- 10th Circuit Holds United States Liable as “Owner” of Superfund Mining Site
- The DC Circuit Hands Trump EPA an Early Defeat
- May 2017 Environmental Newsletter
- “TwoFer” Executive Order Challenged in Court
- Trump’s March 28 Executive Order Rescinds Energy Rules and Guidance and Forces Agency Self-Evaluation
- EPA Reviewing Obama-Era Power Plant Effluent Rule – Environmental Groups Sue
- EPA Has Much to Reconsider on Power Plant Emissions
- EPA Denies Petition to Revoke Tolerances and Cancel all Registrations
- March 2017 Environmental Newsletter
- DuPont Settlement Announced for C-8 Personal Injury Litigation
- Delaware Company to Pay $3.5 Million for Environmental Crimes
- President Trump’s Executive Order Regarding Waters of the United States and his Deference to Justice Antonin Scalia: Does it Even Matter?
- EPA Proposes to Remove Gasoline Volatility Restrictions for Cincinnati and Dayton Areas
- January 2017 Environmental Newsletter
- EPA Announces Final Ecological Effects Test Guidelines (Series 850) Under TSCA, FIFRA and FFDCA
- Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule – What changed?
- U.S. EPA Adds Vapor Intrusion to the Superfund Hazard Ranking System, But Will It Last?
- EPA Removes 72 Pesticide Inert Ingredients from its Approved List
- $115,000 in Restitution and Guilty Plea to Resolve Asbestos Charges
- $900,000 Penalty and Felony Guilty Plea to Resolve Wastewater Dumping Charges
- October 2016 Taft Environmental Newsletter
- Government’s War-Time Closure of Gold Mine Insufficient to Establish “Operator” Liability Under CERCLA
- Who Pays When the Other Party Delays? “Loss of Use” Damages and the Recent Michigan Decision Newell Brands, Inc. v. Kirsch Lofts, LLC
- Who Will Pay to Clean Up Indiana’s Polluted Deep Aquifers?
- EPA Region 7 Reaches $112,684 Settlement with Albaugh, LLC for Alleged FIFRA Violations
- August 2016 Environmental Newsletter
- Deveau and Gardner Successfully Represent Client in Insurance Coverage Dispute
- EPA Issues New Draft Guidance on Managing Pesticide Resistance
- Is Groundwater a “Water of the US”? Recent Sierra Club v. Dominion Power Lawsuit Could Open the Flood Gates for Clean Water Act Citizen Suits
- 8th Circuit Reverses Class Certification in Superfund Environmental Contamination Case
- EPA Committed to Preserving Formaldehyde Focus
- Indiana Court of Appeals Clarifies Limits on Claims Brought under Two Environmental Statutes
- June 2016 Environmental Newsletter
- EPA Issues New Proposed Changes to NPDES Regulations
- Landowners Win Big in the U.S. Supreme Court: Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Determinations Subject to Judicial Review
- Federal Court Rules Insurers Have Duty to Defend Lawsuit Arising Out of Environmental Contamination Under Business Auto Policies
- EPA Proposes to Remove the CERCLA and RCRA Exemptions from Site Remediation NESHAP
- Sixth Circuit Limits Contractual Recovery of FIFRA “Data Compensation” Costs
- April 2016 Environmental Newsletter
- Asbestos Claims and the Indiana Supreme Court: A Tale of Little Repose
- The Gutting of Clean Ohio Brownfields Grants
- IDEM Oversight Can Establish Compliance With NCP