Our Environmental, Safety & Health team is pleased to share with you the latest edition of our monthly newsletter, frESH Law Horizons: Key Developments in UK & EU Environment, Safety and Health Law and Procedure; providing bite-size updates on EU and UK law, procedure and policy. The updates covered in this month’s edition include (among … Continue Reading
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. In this case, one man’s solid waste, commercial and industrial waste, biomass, plastics, tires, and organic contaminants are another man’s energy, fuel, and commodity chemicals thanks to waste conversion technologies generally known as pyrolysis and gasification. For years, these waste conversion technologies have been regulated under a patchwork … Continue Reading
Our Environmental, Safety & Health team is pleased to share with you the latest edition of our monthly newsletter, frESH Law Horizons: Key Developments in UK & EU Environment, Safety and Health Law and Procedure; providing bite-size updates on EU and UK law, procedure and policy. The updates covered in this month’s edition include (among … Continue Reading
Our Environmental, Safety & Health team is pleased to share with you the latest edition of our monthly newsletter, frESH Law Horizons: Key Developments in UK & EU Environment, Safety and Health Law and Procedure; providing bite-size updates on EU and UK law, procedure and policy. This month’s edition includes the following: The government has … Continue Reading
In January, our four-part 2021 Women in Energy & Environment Webinar Series reached an industry-leading, global audience of more than 450 professionals. The series covered the following key and emerging issues facing the global regulated community today: Embedding Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Into the New Normal – Returning From the Pandemic Key Regulatory Issues in … Continue Reading
US EPA recently released its draft National Recycling Strategy (Draft Strategy) as part of its broader “America Recycles” program that aims to increase the amount of paper, plastic and metal recycled in the country. While the Draft Strategy sets sweeping goals to grow domestic recycling capacity and improve markets for recycled materials, it offers little … Continue Reading
The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in increased use of disposable plastics and plastic waste reduction efforts have experienced setbacks as the need for these products grows. Nonetheless, proponents of a federal bill aimed at reducing plastic waste, the “Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act,” (the Act) continue to advocate for its passage. Recently, Sen. Tom … Continue Reading
On June 16, Ohio Governor DeWine signed into law H.B. 168, which creates a “bona fide prospective purchaser” (BFPP) affirmative defense to liability for performing investigative or remedial activities that arise out of release or threatened release of hazardous substances. Ohio follows a number of other states that have similarly enacted a BFPP defense or … Continue Reading
In April 2017, the UK Joint Committee on Human Rights suggested that it might be appropriate for a “failure to prevent” mechanism, such as the one found in section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010, to be applied to business and human rights. Earlier this year, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (“BIICL”) … Continue Reading
On April 20, 2020, the US Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Gregory Christian. In short, the Court held that the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) does not strip Montana state courts of jurisdiction over landowners’ claims for restoration damages; but the Court also held … Continue Reading
On April 10, 2020, US EPA issued updated interim guidance to regional offices for dealing with the “challenges posed by the COVID-19 situation.” The guidance applies to all US EPA field activities, including cleanup under the Superfund program, RCRA corrective action, TSCA PCB cleanup provisions, the Oil Pollution Act, and the Underground Storage Tank program. … Continue Reading
As 2019 moves into its closing months, US EPA activity under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) remains front and center. As part of US EPA’s three-step process of prioritization, risk evaluation and risk management for existing chemicals, as we previously reported, EPA began in 2016 by identifying the first ten chemicals for risk … Continue Reading
A recent prosecution by the Environment Agency, where a company was ordered to pay £327,000, has highlighted potentially difficult issues for businesses in complying with the statutory waste duty of care. What is the Statutory Waste Duty of Care? All businesses generate waste of some description: from paper and kitchen waste in offices, to hazardous … Continue Reading
Asbestos is in the hot seat these days and is receiving significant attention from both US EPA and Congress. In particular, US EPA continues to evaluate asbestos risks under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and has imposed additional regulations, while Congress is currently considering an outright ban on the substance. On April 25, 2019, … Continue Reading
Recent caselaw demonstrates that regulators are prepared to prosecute landlords as a direct result of their tenants’ unlawful waste operations. Landlords should consider this possibility when negotiating with prospective tenants and put in place reasonable safeguards to protect themselves. However, victims of fly-tipping may potentially face a similar risk of prosecution against which such safeguards … Continue Reading
When President Trump signed the omnibus spending bill on March 23, 2018, he also enacted the Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development Act of 2018 (BUILD Act) (not to be confused with the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development Act of 2018—yet another BUILD Act of 2018). Among the several provisions within the BUILD … Continue Reading
New water supplies in the western United States are likely to come from a panoply of non-traditional sources, including storm water capture, waste water recycling, desalination, infrastructure efficiency improvements, and other conservation measures. One potential new water source for municipalities is contaminated groundwater requiring environmental remediation, that, but for its low quality, could be used … Continue Reading
On May 30, 2018, US EPA issued a final rule to revise the regulations associated with the 2015 Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) Rule. US EPA performed this rulemaking to bring the regulations in line with the D.C. Circuit’s 2017 and 2018 rulings in American Petroleum Institute v. EPA (Case No. 09-1038), which vacated and … Continue Reading
On March 6, 2018, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals modified its 2017 ruling in American Petroleum Institute v. EPA, No. 09-1038, concerning US EPA’s Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) Rule under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which defines when hazardous recyclable materials are excluded from regulation as hazardous waste. The end result … Continue Reading
Shortly after being confirmed as the new US EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt appointed a Superfund Task Force to review the approximately 1,300 Superfund sites in the United States and make recommendations on how to improve and restructure the cleanup process. Administrator Pruitt observed that “many of these sites have been listed as Superfund sites for decades, some … Continue Reading
Registered waste exemptions are not to be treated lightly and compliance with their conditions is not flexible, as the Environment Agency has reinforced in a recent case. A lengthy investigation culminating in a nearly £20,000 fine has been handed down by Chelmsford Magistrates Court in relation to illegal deposits of waste on farmland in Essex. … Continue Reading
A recent Court of Appeal case, Powys County Council v Price and Hardwick, has addressed the issue of liability of successor public authorities under the UK contaminated land regime (Part 2A Environmental Protection Act 1990) (“Part 2A”). The case related to a landfill site that had been operated by local authorities of the county of … Continue Reading
On July 7, 2017, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision striking down portions of US EPA’s Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) Rule, which defines when certain hazardous secondary materials (i.e. recyclable materials generated as the remainder of industrial processes) become “discarded” and thus subject to regulation as a solid waste. The Rule, … Continue Reading
