Posts Tagged ‘News’

The Supreme Court held on April 20, 2020, in a broad consensus decision, that landowners affected by a Superfund site can sue under state law for damages to their properties, but those damages may not include the cost to restore the plaintiffs’ properties based on their preferred cleanup remedy if that remedy is not approved…

The final Navigable Waters Protection Rule (“NWPR”) to define “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps will be published in the Federal Register on April 21, 2020. The Rule will take effect on June 22, 2020. Once effective, it replaces the rule the agencies…

Due to the public health crisis presented by COVID-19, new guidance, advisories, orders, and exemptions are issued by state and local governments on a daily basis. The wide variety of responses has left many businesses, including responsible parties and their environmental consultants, wondering how these actions impact their obligation to conduct environmental remediation and related…

On March 26, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued guidance addressing a range of issues related to environmental enforcement and compliance arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidance addresses situations where EPA may apply enforcement discretion to pandemic-related non-compliance. EPA does not expect to seek penalties for violations of routine compliance monitoring, integrity testing,…

American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) blog on birds…February 5, 2020 Recently two of our attorneys, Richard Horder and Jacqueline Eisermann, wrote an article for the American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL). ACOEL is known for featuring articles written by prominent environmental lawyers from around the country on its website every month. Our article covers…

Recently two of our attorneys, Richard Horder and Jacqueline Eisermann, wrote an article for the American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL). ACOEL is known for featuring articles written by prominent environmental lawyers from around the country on its website every month. Our article covers a recent development in the realm of environmental law titled, “The…

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (“the Services”) have issued three final rules amending the federal regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The changes constitute the most sweeping revisions to ESA rules in the statute’s history. The new rules change how species are listed as endangered or…

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is expected to release proposed regulations to substantially modify its rules implementing the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act, also known as NEPA. NEPA and its implementing regulations require federal agencies to conduct environmental review and impact assessment and engage the public on major federal actions such as infrastructure, energy…

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps signed a final rule last Thursday, September 12, to repeal the rule defining “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) the agencies promulgated in 2015 (“2015 Rule”).  See pre-publication version, available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-09/documents/wotus_rin-2040-af74_final_frn_prepub2.pdf.  The repeal will take effect 60 days after the rule is published in the…

EPA’s and the Army Corps’ 2015 promulgation of a revised definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) was met with an executive order and extensive legal challenges questioning the definition’s lawfulness (with which KMCL has been involved).  The Agencies thus commenced a lengthy process to rescind and replace that rule.  One piece of that…