US EPA may make a significant change to the Hazard Ranking System, the system utilized to determine which sites are eligible for inclusion on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). (See the proposed rule here.) Currently, the Hazard Ranking System evaluates four exposure pathways when determining eligibility: ground water migration, soil exposure, surface water migration, … Continue Reading
As 2015 came to a close, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals quietly notified the parties in a decades-long environmental dispute that, in April 2016, the court will hear arguments in a case that could reshape CERCLA liability forever. The basis for the pending appeal is a district court order holding that air emissions could … Continue Reading
Congress is moving quickly on multiple fronts in response to the August 2015 spill at the abandoned Gold King Mine in Colorado. Republicans in the House held a hearing on a package of mining reform bills proposed by Rep. Lamborn (R-CO), Rep. Hice (R-GA), and Rep. Hardy (R-NV) that would, respectively, promote private sector remediation … Continue Reading
