FERC amended the Uniform System of Accounts for public utilities and licensees to create new accounts for wind, solar, and other renewable generating assets; create a new functional class for energy storage accounts; codify the accounting treatment of environmental credits; and create new accounts within existing functions for computer hardware, software, and communication equipment.

United States v. Shell Oil. Co., No. 83-cv-2379 (D. Colo. Sept. 28, 2023). A proposed amendment to a consent decree changes the manner in which a settling CERCLA defendant will pay oversight costs for Army-led environmental cleanup activities at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, and fully resolves those costs.

United States v. CR-Troy, Inc., No. 2:23-cv-463 (S.D. Ind. Sept. 26, 2023). Under a proposed consent decree, settling CERCLA defendants must pay $3,650,000 in response costs and perform remedial measures at the Elm Street Groundwater Contamination Site in Terre Haute, Indiana.

EPA entered into a proposed administrative settlement agreement under CERCLA with Sugar Pine Hotel, Inc., for the recovery of $44,192 plus interest in past response costs incurred at the Klamath Falls Motel Mercury Spill Response site.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) identified categorical exclusions established by DOE under NEPA that cover categories of actions that NIST proposes to take.

DOT adopted DOE’s Electric Vehicle Charging Stations categorical exclusion under NEPA to use in DOT programs and funding opportunities administered by the Department.

United States v. Atlantic Richfield Co., No. 4:23-cv-00050-BMM (D. Mont. Aug. 22, 2023). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CERCLA defendant must (1) perform certain remedial actions to address soil contamination, (2) pay EPA $464,475.12 in reimbursement of past response costs, and (3) reimburse EPA for future costs, in connection with the release of hazardous substances at the ACM Smelter and Refinery Site in Cascade County, Montana.

United States v. TCI Pacific Communications, LLC, No. 2:23-cv-06076 (D.N.J. Aug. 21, 2023). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CERCLA defendant must pay $950,000 for past response costs arising from removal action by the EPA to address lead-contaminated soil at the Barth Smelting Corporation Site in Newark, New Jersey.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement revised certain regulatory provisions concerning blowout preventer systems and well control for oil and gas and sulfur operations in the outer continental shelf.

EPA proposed to enter into a cost recovery settlement agreement under CERCLA with Crown Container Transfer Station Co., Inc. concerning the Frankfort Asbestos Superfund site in Frankfort, New York.