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.
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.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission announced that it has promulgated amendments to the sentencing guidelines, policy statements, commentary, and statutory index.
The Internal Revenue Service finalized regulations regarding federal income tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act for the purchase of qualifying new and previously-owned clean vehicles.
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.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) enforcement program has long been the backbone of environmental enforcement in the United States. That program may now be bound for dramatic change. This Article analyzes the threats posed to the Agency’s program by the U.S. Supreme Court’s forthcoming decision in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, in which three constitutional questions presented cut to the core of administrative enforcement.
Supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) have received a growing amount of attention in recent years, from the Donald Trump Administration banning their use in settlements, to regulation and guidance from the Joseph Biden Administration reversing the ban, to legislative proposals prohibiting them altogether. This Article examines SEPs’ legality under existing law, focusing on claims that they violate the Miscellaneous Receipts Act and the Antideficiency Act. It begins with a brief history of SEPs’ policy evolution and the limitations on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s and U.S.
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.
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.
United States v. PPG Industries, Inc., No. 2:24-04771 (D.N.J. Apr. 11, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree concerning the Riverside Industrial Park Superfund Site in Newark, New Jersey, a settling CERCLA defendant must design and implement the components of the remedy selected for the site in EPA's September 28, 2021, record of decision that relate to waste material, sewer water, soil gas, and soil/fill material; perform groundwater monitoring and implement institutional controls; reimburse the United States $2,883,120 and New Jersey $116,880 for past response costs relating to the site; and pay for future response costs to be incurred.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration amended its existing standards to better protect miners against occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica, a significant health hazard, and to improve respiratory protection for miners from exposure to airborne contaminants.