Sustainability
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U.S. EPA Offers Roadmap for Environmental Justice-Based Permit Denials
On August 16, 2022, U.S. EPA released its Interim Environmental Justice and Civil Rights in Permitting Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) that provides guidance to federal, state, and local environmental permitting programs on integrating environmental justice (EJ) and civil rights into relevant environmental permitting decisions. Continue reading
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OMB Throws Potential Speed Bump in Front of U.S. EPA’s Efforts to Designate PFAS as CERCLA Hazardous Substances
On August 12, 2022, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed its review of U.S. EPA’s proposed rule to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as CERCLA hazardous substances. Continue reading
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Inflation Reduction Act: Is the U.S. Finally Poised to Tackle Climate Change?
By Allison A. Torrence In a compromise move many months in the making, on August 7, 2022, the Senate passed a spending bill dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which contains provisions aimed at lowering drug prices and health care premiums, reducing inflation, and most notably for our readers, investing approximately $369 billion in… Continue reading
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U.S. EPA Updates Regional Screening Levels to Add Five New PFAS Chemicals
On May 18, 2022, U.S. EPA updated its Regional Screening Level tables to include five new per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The five new PFAS compounds added to the RSL tables are hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid and its ammonium salt (HFPO-DA – sometimes referred to as GenX chemicals), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic… Continue reading
CERCLA, Climate Change, Contamination, Emerging Contaminants, Groundwater, RCRA, Sustainability, WaterAgency for Toxic Substances and Disease, ammonium salt, CERCLA, Contamination, Corporate Environmental Lawyer, EPA, GenX chemicals, hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid, HFPO-DA, industrial soil, Jenner & Block, perfluorononanoic acid, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, perfluorooctanoic acid, PFAS, PFHxS, PFNA, PFOA, PFOS, Polyfluoroalkyl, RCRA, Regional Screening Level, remediation, RSL, Steven M. Siros, tap water -
SEC Enforcement Division’s ESG Task Force “Lifts the Vale” on Its Scrutiny of ESG Disclosures
Since early 2021, the SEC has emphasized that ESG-related issues are important to investors and a key SEC disclosure and enforcement priority. Although the agency’s heightened focus on these issues led to the recent proposal for new climate disclosures, the SEC also has made clear that it would seek to bring cases under existing law… Continue reading
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Vermont Joins Growing Number of States Allowing Medical Monitoring for Alleged Exposure to Chemicals
On April 21st, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed into law Senate Bill 113 that provides a cause of action for medical monitoring for individuals exposed to toxic chemicals. Continue reading
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Embracing the Winds of Change Through Investments in the United States’ Energy Future
When the wind of change blows, some people build walls, others build windmills.” While this ancient Chinese proverb most likely did not envision the construction of large-scale, offshore wind farms, its wisdom remains strikingly applicable to the United States’ energy and infrastructure policies in the 21st Century. Continue reading
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An Uncertain Future: Legal Challenges and the Forthcoming Climate Refugee Crisis
However, while the war in Ukraine is one of the latest events causing a surge of refugees, those fleeing Russian aggression are by no means alone. As of the most recent data from the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (“UNHCR”), which counts until mid-2021, there were 20,835,367 people qualified as refugees under the UNHCR’s… Continue reading
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“Silent Spring” and the Life Cycle of Emerging Contaminants
On the 60th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carlson’s groundbreaking book “Silent Spring”, the world continues to struggle to manage the human health and environmental risks associated with newly discovered emerging contaminants. Continue reading
Climate Change, Consumer Law and Environment, Contamination, Emerging Contaminants, Groundwater, Sustainability, TSCA, Water1, 4-dioxane, asbestos, chemicals, Corporate Environmental Lawyer, DDT, dioxin, Earth Week, Emerging Contaminants, environment, EPA, global stewardship, Groundwater, human health, Jenner & Block, MTBE, PCB, pesticides, PFAS, Rachel Carlson, Silent Spring, soil, Steven M. Siros, strategic roadmap, TSCA -
Earth Week Series: Imagine a Day Without Environmental Lawyers
On this 52nd anniversary of Earth Day, I am not writing yet another, typically not very funny, riff on one of Shakespeare’s most famous lines.[1] Instead, I am inspired by one of the most popular of our blogs, written in 2017 by our talented former partner, E. Lynn Grayson, “Imagine a Day Without Water.” To… Continue reading