On September 20, EPA issued a proposed rule to restrict carbon emissions from new coal and gas-fired power plants. The restrictions are anticipated to require carbon capture and sequestration for any new coal-fired plants. EPA also has announced plans to issue a rule regulating carbon emissions from existing coal-fired plants in 2014. EPA is proposing two standards for natural gas-fired plants: 1,000 lb CO2/MWh for larger units (>850 mmBtu/hr) and 1,100 lb CO2/MWh for smaller units ( ‰¤850 mmBtu/hr). EPA is proposing two alternative limits for fossil fuel-fired plants: 1,100 ...
On August, 27, EPA published a final rule requiring electronic filing for facilities reporting chemical releases through the Toxics Release Inventory, beginning January 21, 2014. The rule is designed to ease the regulatory burden for making TRI filings and to save EPA costs associated with filing. Twenty-six industry sectors are required to utilize the TRI system, including businesses in manufacturing, mining, utilities and hazardous waste treatment and processing. As in the past, trade secret information may be filed using alternate means and will be kept confidential by EPA ...
EPA is poised to withdraw the direct final rule it published on August 15, which would have added a new ASTM standard for conducting Phase I Environmental Site Assessments to the list of "all appropriate inquiries" that must be made to afford bona fide prospective purchasers protection from CERCLA liability. Critics of the rule overwhelmingly said in public comments that the new ASTM standard is superior to the current standard, and that EPA should avoid creating a "two-tier" due diligence market by continuing to accept both standards. Commenters urge EPA to either continue to ...
A Lone Pine order is a case management tool often utilized by courts in complex multi-party toxic tort cases to organize plaintiffs' claims and to focus the parties on key issues early in the litigation. A Lone Pine order typically requires plaintiffs early in a case to present some basic evidence supporting his or her injuries and to produce some evidence of causation. Lone Pine orders take their name from a 1986 decision out of New Jersey, Lore v. Lone Pine Corp. In the Lone Pine litigation, multiple plaintiffs sued multiple defendants for personal injuries and property damages arising ...
As Scott Hitch noted in a previous post, a change to the federal rule regarding All Appropriate Inquiries ("AAI") is currently on notice for public review and comment. The comment period ends on September 16. The proposed change is prompted by recent changes in ASTM's 'Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment ["ESA"] Process'. The new ASTM Standard, designated E1527-13, results from an ASTM procedure requiring it to update individual standards at least every 8 years. The new Standard replaces the ASTM E1527-05. Currently ...
Earlier this month, the State of Florida announced it will be filing a lawsuit in September in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to limit Georgia's consumption of water from the Chattahoochee and Flint River Basins through an injunction. Florida claims that the unchecked consumption of the upstream water flows have negatively impacted Apalachicola Bay by increasing the salinity of the Bay, particularly in the summer and fall months. The reduction in the salinity is blamed for the reduction in the oyster population. Apalachicola Bay produces 90% of Florida's oyster supply and 10% of the ...
Just as Mary Hatch and George Bailey listened to Sam Wainwright's "chance of a lifetime offer" in the holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life; newly installed EPA Administrator, Gina McCarthy's Harvard audience listened as she explained last week that preventing climate change is the "opportunity of a lifetime." Administrator McCarthy touted sparking innovation, growing jobs and strengthening the economy as just a few of the opportunities presented by curbing greenhouse gases. Her suggestion that environmental protection can spur economic growth should foster a ...
Updating an ongoing issue related to options for new ash regulations, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (H.R. 2218) on July 25, 2013. The legislation would regulate the ash from coal-fired power plants by classifying it as a solid waste under Subtitle D of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The prospect of some form of enhanced regulation of coal ash has been a contentious issue for several years. Following a 2008 breach of a coal ash impoundment operated by TVA in Kingston, Tennessee, the Environmental Protection ...
The Georgia Court of Appeals, on July 16, issued its opinion affirming the Effingham County Superior Court's decision to certify a class consisting of the owners of properties neighboring Georgia-Pacific's Savannah River Mill in Rincon. Plaintiffs, owners of four of the neighboring properties, argued that the mill releases hydrogen sulfide gas onto their properties and sought class certification to include properties located within a mile of the mill. Plaintiffs brought claims for nuisance, trespass, and negligence in connection with fumes created in connection with the ...
The recent Supreme Court case Koontz vs. St. Johns River has generated a lot of commentary and debate in the legal community and speculation concerning the ramifications of the case on various land use permitting scenarios. Oversimplifying the facts and legal theories, the Supreme Court extended previous rulings to a situation whereby the governmental entity denied a request/permit for the failure of the applicant to agree to "suggested" alternative concessions proposed by the local government. The alternative concessions included mitigation measures, conservation ...
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