Search
Search Results
-
insightThe Trump Administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2021 proposes $4.829 trillion in outlays and is purported to balance the budget within fifteen years. COVID-19, which arrived in the United States after the budget was released, now throws both propositions in serious doubt. Outlays are now likely to be less than previously proposed, and a balanced budget anytime soon seems to be a pipe dream. Much of the balancing in the proposed budget comes from various cuts and reforms to mandatory spending programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and welfare, but other programs will see reductions, too. One budgetary cut is to the Environmental Protection Agency, coinciding with its 50th anniversary.
-
insightOn April 17, 2015, EPA issued the final coal combustion residuals (CCR) Rule (the 2015 CCR Rule), providing the first federal regulatory scheme for the disposal of CCR materials. The 2015 CCR Rule regulates only facilities in the electric generation sector. EPA chose to regulate CCR under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) as a solid waste. Since 2015, the CCR federal regulatory scheme has been fluid due to ongoing litigation with industry and environmental non-governmental organizations (eNGOs) and subsequent rulemakings tweaking the rule or responding to remands by the court.
-
insightThe United States Supreme Court recently decided a case that will create considerable uncertainty for companies involved with cleanups under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as “Superfund”). The question they will now have to ask is this: Who controls the level of cleanup that must be performed? Is it EPA or state judges?
-
insightAs we have reported in previous articles, controversy over whether the Clean Water Act (CWA) regulates discharges of pollutants that travel through groundwater into surface waters has led to significant litigation across the nation. This culminated in County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, a case recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The decision resolves a cadre of previous and varying holdings on this issue in the lower courts, but it also leaves many issues open.
-
insightComprehensive Risk Management Plans (RMP) under Section 112(r) the Clean Air Act (Act) are not just required for facilities processing listed regulated substances in excess of regulatory thresholds. Recent EPA enforcement trends suggests the agency believes the Act’s General Duty Clause requires plants storing or processing unlisted chemicals to have an RMP if a catastrophic release of those chemicals could pose a significant risk to human health or the environment.
-
insightEPA recently issued a final rule governing how EPA personnel are to conduct certain inspections at regulated facilities. The rule was developed in response to an Executive Order issued by President Trump, and it sets forth protocols EPA inspectors must follow before, during and after a civil compliance inspection. The rule does not replace EPA’s media specific compliance inspection manuals, which provide detailed inspection guidelines for specific program areas, but rather provides a broad-brush standard for what every EPA inspection should look like. In addition, the rule does not apply to the investigation of potential environmental crimes.
-
insight
End of the Line? EPA and Corps of Engineers Finalize New Definition of “Waters of the United States”
As reported in a number of our newsletter articles over the past several years, both the Obama Administration, through its Clean Water Rule, and the Trump Administration have pursued major changes to the scope of federally-regulated waters under the Clean Water Act. The focus of attention has been on the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). The latest step in this effort has now been issued as a final rule, called the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR). It supplants the placeholder definition issued last fall as an interim replacement of the Clean Water Rule. The definition of WOTUS is critical to federal regulation and protection of surface waters under various Clean Water Act programs and even other environmental statutes, so the changes in the NWPR have great significance for federal permitting, enforcement, and review of projects that may impact surface waters and wetlands. -
insightThe United States Department of Justice has terminated its policy of allowing companies to perform supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) in lieu of paying civil penalties for violations of federal environmental laws. The new policy, which was effective immediately, was announced in a March 12, 2020 memo by Jeffrey Clark, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), to other ENRD attorneys. The new policy does not, however, affect SEPs that are already approved under a Consent Decree.
-
insighthe Federal Reserve (Fed) this morning materially modified its “Main Street” lending program aimed at mid-sized businesses from the original concepts in its press release on April 9.
-
insightAn April 15, 2020 decision by the United States District Court for the District of Montana has held that Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12) issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps’) is unlawful.