EPA proposed to grant an exclusion from the list of hazardous wastes to ExxonMobil Baytown Refinery located in Baytown, Texas, to exclude up to 730 cubic yards per year of sludges removed from the wastewater treatment plant from the list of federal hazardous wastes when disposed of in a Subtitle D Landfill under RCRA.

EPA proposed to grant an exclusion from the list of hazardous wastes to ExxonMobil Baytown Refinery located in Baytown, Texas, to exclude up to 2,409 cubic yards per year of API separator sludge from the list of federal hazardous wastes when disposed of in a Subtitle D Landfill under RCRA.

United States v. Formosa Plastics Corp., Texas, No. 09-00061 (S.D. Tex. Jan. 11, 2023). A proposed second amendment to a consent decree requires settling RCRA defendants to cease treating the recovered groundwater on site, and instead send the recovered wastewater off site to a RCRA permitted hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facility, and clean the wastewater treatment system to eliminate hazardous waste residue.

The Office of Restoration and Damage Assessment seeks comments and suggestions from state, tribal, and federal natural resource co-trustees, other affected parties, and the interested public on revising the simplified Type A procedures in the regulations for conducting natural resource damage assessments and restoration for hazardous substance releases.

EPA responded to a rulemaking petition from the Center for Biological Diversity requesting that discarded polyvinyl chloride be listed as a hazardous waste under RCRA, tentatively denying the petition and soliciting public comment on the tentative denial.

EPA announced a proposed settlement comprised of two administrative agreements in which settling CERCLA defendants must pay $1.2 million in reimbursement of past response costs paid by the United States in connection with an ongoing removal action at the Wells G&H Superfund site in Woburn, Massachusetts.

United States v. Buckhorn, Inc., No. 22-8989 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 20, 2022). A settling CERCLA defendant must pay $1,855,500 for response costs EPA incurred responding to the New Idria Mercury Mine site in San Benito County, California.

United States v. Alden Leeds, Inc., No. 2:22-cv-07326 (D.N.J. Dec. 16, 2022). Settling CERCLA defendants must pay $150 million in cleanup costs incurred and to be incurred at Operable Unit 2 and Operable Unit 4 of the Diamond Alkali Superfund site in New Jersey.

EPA Region 2 announced a proposed cost recovery settlement agreement under CERCLA concerning the Jewett White Lead Company Superfund site located on Staten Island in Richmond County, New York.

A proposed settlement agreement under CERCLA requires settling defendants to pay the United States and Delaware $1,071,755.84 in connection with the alleged release of hazardous substances from two manufacturing facilities in New Castle County, Delaware, leading to injury to, impairment of, destruction of, loss of, diminution of value of, and/or loss of use of natural resources.