Environmental

Recent Posts

US EPA Issues First-Ever RCRA “Imminent and Substantial Endangerment” Order for Vapor Intrusion at Fort Gillem, Georgia
Posted on 15 Oct 2014 by Jenner & Block Corporate Environmental Lawyer

By: Alexander J. Bandza In what appears to be the first-ever RCRA § 7003, [ enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers ], “imminent and substantial endangerment” order for vapor intrusion, US EPA Region 4 issued an order... Read More

Supreme Court’s Southern Union Decision Helps Level the Playing Field for Corporations Subject to Criminal Fines
Posted on 13 Jul 2012 by Bruce Pasfield

By Bruce Pasfield and Elise Paeffgen, Attorneys, Alston & Bird LLP On June 21, 2012, the Supreme Court in Southern Union Co. v. U.S., 567 U.S. __ (2012) held that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial requires juries not judges to decide the... Read More

EPA Finalizes 2015 Revisions to the 1988 RCRA Underground Storage Tank Regulations
Posted on 13 Oct 2015 by Jenner & Block Corporate Environmental Lawyer

The US EPA has revised the 1988 underground storage tank (UST) regulation and the 1988 state program approval (SPA) regulation. Some of these changes had their roots in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which set out additional requirements in states that... Read More

Picture Perfect Result? EPA and Kodak Reach Agreement For Clean Up Of Contamination at Business Park and River
Posted on 28 Mar 2014 by LexisNexis Legal Newsroom Staff

Kodak Also to Pay for Liability at Superfund Sites in New York and New Jersey The federal government has entered into settlement agreements with Eastman Kodak Company that resolve environmental claims and liabilities asserted by the United States... Read More

EPA Plans To Amend RCRA Hazardous Waste Generator Regulations
Posted on 31 Jan 2012 by E. Lynn Grayson

By E. Lynn Grayson, Partner, Jenner & Block EPA recently announced plans to amend certain hazardous waste regulations under RCRA at 40 C.F.R. Parts 261-265 in its Action Initiation List. According to EPA, the focus will be to streamline these... Read More

EPA Proposes New Rules for Pharmaceutical Hazardous Waste Management and for Other Hazardous Waste Generators
Posted on 19 Oct 2015 by Ballard Spahr LLP

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced two new proposed hazardous waste rules that EPA believes would clarify and simplify requirements for health care facilities and retail pharmacies to manage their unused pharmaceuticals that... Read More

Generators Need to be Vigilant About TCLP Sampling Protocol
Posted on 17 Jul 2015 by Williams Mullen

By A. Keith "Kip" McAlister, Jr. The Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), SW-846 Method 1311, was promulgated by EPA pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to test and determine the potential leaching rate... Read More

EPA Proposes Hazardous Waste Rule for Pharmaceuticals
Posted on 2 Nov 2015 by Williams Mullen

A pre-publication draft of a proposed rule by EPA may clarify hazardous waste requirements for obsolete or defective pharmaceuticals. EPA proposes a new Subpart P entitled “Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals” to 40 CFR Part 266 of its RCRA regulations... Read More

EPA Issues New Rules Governing Recycling That Will Impact Most Major Industries
Posted on 10 Feb 2015 by Babst Calland

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently revised its rules governing the recycling of spent materials, listed hazardous sludge and listed by-products associated with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) definition of solid... Read More

Tags: hazardous , waste , RCRA , EPA

The manufacturer of PCE dry cleaning machine filtering system is not a CERCLA arranger
Posted on 4 Aug 2011 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

Since 1980, Team Enterprises, LLC leased space in a shopping center in Modesto, California, where it operated a dry cleaning store. From 1980 to 2004, Team used PCE in its dry cleaning equipment, and the machines generated wastewater containing PCE. Team... Read More

EPA Issues Final Rulemaking for Coal Combustion Residuals
Posted on 5 Feb 2015 by Babst Calland

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an advance notice of a final rulemaking that will regulate coal combustion residuals (CCR) as solid waste under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The rulemaking will... Read More

Jenner & Block: Post-Sackett Challenge to U.S. EPA RCRA Order
Posted on 22 Jan 2013 by Steven M. Siros

By Steven M. Siros, Partner , Jenner & Block The first of perhaps many post-Sackett challenges to RCRA orders was filed in the Central District of California in December. On December 18, 2012, a chemical company (Soco West, Inc.) challenged... Read More

RCRA imminent & hazardous endangerment notice must be specific, notes Second Circuit
Posted on 10 Aug 2011 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

A RCRA notice is mandatory, as noted by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hallstrom v. Tillamook County , 493 U.S. 20, 26 (1989). The purpose of the notice is to a) inform public agencies of the alleged problem so that they can ascertain if they wish to take... Read More

Ongoing Cleanup Precludes Plaintiff From Establishing RCRA Imminent and Substantial Endangerment
Posted on 27 Jan 2012 by Steven M. Siros

By Steven M. Siros, Partner, Jenner & Block A recent decision from the Eastern District of Wisconsin rejected plaintiff's efforts to demonstrate RCRA imminent and substantial endangerment, notwithstanding the presence of benzene in indoor... Read More

State Agency does not necessarily have exclusive expertise to address remediation such that CWA & RCRA citizen suit claims are to be dismissed, especially where there is a lack of ongoing formal state proceedings
Posted on 25 Oct 2011 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

NL Industries owned a site through 2005. It entered into an administrative consent order with the State of New Jersey which required it to clean-up part of a site and investigate other portions, including sediments in an adjacent river. The sediments... Read More