On December 20, 2019, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA) was signed into law. Among other provisions, the NDAA adds certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the list of chemicals subject to TRI reporting and establishes a framework for including additional PFAS on the TRI list. Note that the addition of these chemicals is immediate. Facilities in TRI-covered industry sectors should begin tracking and collecting data on these chemicals in 2020. Reporting on these chemicals will be due by July 1, 2021, for 2020 data. (more…)

These recommendations provide clear and consistent guidance for federal cleanup sites being evaluated and addressed under federal programs, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) and corrective action under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The recommendations in this guidance may also be useful for state, tribal, or other regulatory authorities (e.g., federal facility cleanup programs and approved state RCRA corrective action programs); though, many states have promulgated state standards that may be considered ARARs under CERCLA. While EPA is issuing interim guidance, final remedial decisions under CERCLA will be specific to each site to ensure protectiveness, as required by statute.

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Shared from a recent Illinois EPA press release.

The Illinois EPA’s Site Remediation Program (“SRP”) is a voluntary program that provides Remediation Applicants the opportunity to receive review and evaluation services, technical assistance and no further remediation determinations for site investigations and remedial action projects.  After a Remediation Applicant enrolled in the Site Remediation Program submits one of the program’s four required reports (Site Investigation Report, Remediation Objectives Report, Remedial Action Plan, or Remedial Action Completion Report), the Illinois EPA is required to review the report within 60 days.  If multiple reports are submitted at the same time, the Illinois EPA’s review time is extended to 90 days.

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The POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD proposed amendments to the Part titled Special Waste Hauling (35 IAC 809; 43 Ill Reg 13361) that permit use of an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency prescribed manifest form by haulers of non-hazardous special waste as an alternative to the more burdensome and costly USEPA Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest (which is still required for hazardous special waste shipments).

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by Gabrielle E. Thompson, Ankur K. Tohan; K&L Gates LLP

21 November 2019

On Wednesday, November 6, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in County of Maui, Hawai´i v. Hawai´i Wildlife Fund,[1] a case that considers whether the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) applies to discharges of pollutants from point sources into groundwater that eventually flows into navigable waters.

The Supreme Court’s consideration of that question comes at a time when there is disagreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and federal courts about whether such discharges are regulated by the CWA. In April, EPA released guidance that interpreted the CWA as categorically excluding the release of pollutants to groundwater from regulation under the CWA.[2] EPA’s interpretation, however, runs counter to last year’s Ninth Circuit’s decision in Hawai’i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui,[3] which held that certain discharges of pollutants to groundwater are subject to CWA regulation. That decision is now on review in the Supreme Court in County of Maui.

The Supreme Court’s decision in County of Maui has the potential to have far-reaching impacts on the scope of the CWA.[4]

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