On April 15, 2020, a federal district court in Montana issued an order vacating the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) Nationwide Permit (NWP) 12 under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) due to the Corps’ failure to meet its obligations under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The court remanded NWP 12 to the … Continue Reading
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced that it will continue to enforce all environmental laws and regulation for the duration of the state’s COVID-19 disaster duration. This policy takes a much stricter stance on environmental obligations than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) temporary policy of enforcement discretion issued on March 26, 2020. … Continue Reading
Last Friday, April 17, the attorneys general of New York, Pennsylvania, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin filed a comment letter with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging the agency to take more comprehensive actions regarding per-fluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (collectively, … Continue Reading
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) announced that it will exercise enforcement discretion on a case-by-case basis as opposed to the EPA’s broader temporary enforcement policy issued on March 26, 2020. Under its more tailored approach, the TCEQ has not relaxed any limits on air emissions or discharges to water. Similarly, the TCEQ has … Continue Reading
In conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) move to relax enforcement efforts, and despite criticism of the EPA’s move, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has suspended collection of civil penalty payments for six weeks – until at least May 31, 2020 – in a move that could be a demonstration that federal government … Continue Reading
As governments and health authorities institute increasingly strict responses to COVID-19, companies worldwide face unprecedented challenges in meeting their otherwise “business as usual” contractual and regulatory obligations. While these challenges span all areas of business, this post focuses on particular environmental obligations and associated risks. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently instituted a temporary … Continue Reading
While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has shown some flexibility in enforcement of environmental regulatory obligations during the outbreak of COVID-19, at this stage in the pandemic, California will not typically excuse noncompliance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 26, 2020, the EPA issued a memorandum implementing a temporary enforcement discretion policy due … Continue Reading
There are many types of cleanup occurring across the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic under a range of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authorities, including, but not limited to, the Superfund program, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act corrective action, Toxic Substances Control Act polychlorinated biphenyl cleanup provisions, the Oil Pollution Act, and the Underground Storage … Continue Reading
In response to the backlash regarding the EPA’s implementation of a temporary enforcement discretion policy, the EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler, described the temporary policy as “very mild” in comparison to the agency’s actions in prior crises. On March 26, 2020, the EPA issued a memorandum implementing a temporary enforcement discretion policy due to the coronavirus … Continue Reading
In these unprecedented days, you read a lot about force majeure and “act of God” defenses to commercial contract publications. Companies affected by the current pandemic are looking to contract terms to minimize their financial losses as the pandemic forces closures and cancellations, and productivity drops off in many industries. This post addresses a small … Continue Reading
In an unprecedented move, today (March 26, 2020) EPA issued a memorandum to its governmental and private sector partners about its new temporary policy regarding EPA enforcement of environmental legal obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The memo states the EPA will exercise its enforcement discretion for noncompliance covered by temporary policy and resulting from the … Continue Reading
A recent decision by a California court of appeal clarified the breadth of the California Water Resources Control Board’s (Board) subpoena power, which could have implications for other state agencies in California and elsewhere. Moreover, private entities which are the subject of an administrative investigation may have a difficult time withholding financial records even if … Continue Reading
The PRC Supreme Court has deviated from the accumulated legal precedent regarding liability for pollution under the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage (the Bunker Convention) and held the owners of a non-leaking vessel liable for clean-up costs and pollution damage.… Continue Reading
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB or Agency) recently published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for its accidental reporting rule in the Federal Register (Proposed Rule). The CSB was established by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, which directed the Agency, among other things, to investigate and report on any accidental release “resulting in … Continue Reading
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a reconsideration rule rescinding many of the agency’s changes and additions made during the Obama administration to strengthen the Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations that address facilities using highly hazardous chemicals. This rulemaking follows the D.C. Circuit’s decision in 2018 that the EPA’s previous effort to rescind … Continue Reading
Several years ago, we wrote a detailed article explaining the new, tougher approach in the UK to the sentencing of environmental offences committed by large companies. That article, from 2015 (see: https://www.reedsmith.com/en/perspectives/2015/10/uk-courts-get-tough-on-environmental-crime-sentenc), focussed on the Court of Appeal’s decision in R v. Thames Water Utilities Ltd [2015] EWCA Crim 960.… Continue Reading
The California Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board (Board) is soliciting public comments on proposed revisions to its Rules of Practice and Procedure. The three-member Board hears appeals from public- and private-sector employers regarding citations issued by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and is authorized to adopt procedural rules related to … Continue Reading
This blog post provides a brief commentary on the transboundary movement of waste case of Conti 11 v. the Land of Lower Saxony, Germany (Case C689-17). The law on the international shipment of waste is of increasing importance to many global businesses. The Reed Smith Environmental, Health & Safety team regularly handles cases on this subject involving … Continue Reading
Following last year’s indictments of Arkema Inc. (Arkema) CEO Richard Rowe and plant manager Leslie Comardelle, a Texas grand jury recently indicted Mike Keough, Arkema’s Vice President of Logistics, in connection with allegations that Arkema failed to provide adequate emergency response information to response officials. Along with this indictment, recent charges against Intercontinental Terminals Company … Continue Reading
Clean Air Council v. Department of Environmental Protection and Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, L.P., EHB Dkt. No. 2016073L (Adjudication Jan. 9, 2019) On January 9, 2019, the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board issued its adjudication in an appeal by Clean Air Council of a plan approval issued to Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, L.P. The Board ultimately remanded … Continue Reading
The past year has been a busy one in environmental law and policy. While a look ahead could include topics such as likely impacts from continuing efforts by the current U.S. administration to bolster use of coal-fired energy or the myriad lawsuits facing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2019 from environmental groups and state attorneys general, … Continue Reading
