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89 FR 46908

United States v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., No. 4:23-cv-00517 (N.D. Ohio May 23, 2024). In connection with the February 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, a proposed consent decree requires a settling CWA and CERCLA defendant to (1) reimburse all response costs incurred by the United States; (2) pay a civil penalty of $15 million; (3) establish a $25 million community health program for qualifying members of the public impacted by the derailment; (4) implement an array of specified rail safety procedures; (5) develop and adopt programs for coordination of rail track restoration and vent and burn procedures; (6) implement a $6 million local waterways remediation plan; (7) pay $175,000 for natural resource damages; and (8) implement compliance and future monitoring requirements. 

89 FR 40361

The president issued Proclamation No. 10746 of May 2, 2024, expanding the boundaries of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.

89 FR 39531

The president issued Proclamation No. 10745 of May 2, 2024, expanding the boundaries of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.

89 FR 40308

BLM finalized a rule that applies land health standards to all Bureau-managed public lands and uses, codifies conservation tools to be used within FLPMA's multiple-use framework, revises existing regulations concerning designation and protection of areas of critical environmental concern, and provides an overarching framework to facilitate ecosystem resilience on public lands. 

89 FR 39124

EPA designated two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), including their salts and structural isomers—as hazardous substances under CERCLA. 

89 FR 36832

United States v. French Limited, Inc., No. 4:89-cv-2544 (S.D. Tex. Apr. 26, 2024). A fourth modification to a 1990 consent decree under CERCLA concerning contamination at the French Limited Superfund Site near Crosby, Texas, revises work requirements, provides for the reimbursement to EPA of certain response costs, and provides for the disbursement to members of the working group of funds received by EPA in a bankruptcy settlement payment for the site.

Shipping's Fair Share

In July 2023, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) resolved to reduce international shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero “by or around, i.e., close to” 2050. There is a long-running debate about whether the sector should decarbonize and how it could do so in a way that is equitable for states and the shipping industry. This Article is the first to normatively define shipping’s fair share of the overall climate mitigation burden using principles of international environmental law.

U.S. and Global Methane Regulation

Methane is estimated to be responsible for one-third of the global rise in temperatures from greenhouse gases; it is shorter-lived but much more potent than carbon dioxide. The United States and the European Union (E.U.) launched the Global Methane Pledge at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). At COP28’s Global Methane Pledge Ministerial last December, new strategies were announced, including the E.U.’s first-ever adoption of methane regulations and a final rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce methane from the oil and gas industry.

89 FR 32460

United States v. San Diego, City of, No. 3:23-cv-00541-LL-BGS (S.D. Cal. Apr. 22, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, settling CERCLA defendants must collectively pay $2,412,029.89 for reimbursement of response costs incurred in connection with the release of hazardous substances at the former Naval Training Center in San Diego, California. 

89 FR 31771

United States v. General Dynamics Corp., No. 6:24-cv-00722 (M.D. Fla. Apr. 18, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, settling CERCLA defendants that released and/or threatened releases of hazardous substances into the environment at the General Dynamics Longwood Superfund Site located in Longwood, Florida, must perform a remedial design and remedial action for the site, reimburse EPA for its past response costs for the site, and pay future costs related to the work.