The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is in the midst of a comprehensive policy review regarding the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in settlements of environmental enforcement actions. This review could potentially have far-reaching implications for companies that seek to settle such actions brought by either the federal government, or in the case of a citizen suit, a non-governmental organization (NGO). It remains to be seen if the ongoing SEP policy review will result in additional limits on the use of SEPs in settlement, thus limiting the flexibility in achieving penalty mitigation that has been a hallmark of environmental enforcement case resolutions for nearly three decades.

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Project Will Deliver Solar, Energy Storage and Communication Resilience

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Director John J. Kim has announced that the Agency’s Office of Energy has issued a $900,000 grant award to SIU Carbondale for a unique solar photovoltaic plus energy storage and communication resiliency project. The SIU Solar + Storage project will feature more than 150kW of solar generation and 310kWh of storage capacity in a highly-visible section of campus at the SIU College of Engineering.

As proposed, this project will:  reduce SIU’s demand on the grid; serve as an important educational tool to the College of Engineering; and add resilience to the electricity and communications infrastructure of SIU and the surrounding Carbondale community. The SIU Solar + Storage project is the first investment of its kind by Illinois EPA’s Office of Energy and designed to be replicated and applied to other contexts and potential future investments across Illinois in and out of the higher education setting. (more…)

The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) announced today the state has approved $1.4 million for the collection and disposal of PFAS-containing aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) currently held in inventory by fire departments and commercial airports across the state.

The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) procurement office today awarded US Ecology of Livonia a seven-month, $1,441,671 contract to collect and safely dispose of more than 30,000 gallons of Class B AFFF. (more…)

Issues related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been top-of-mind for the environmental industry since the early 2000s, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) raised concerns about PFAS-related health effects. Over the past two decades, such substances have drawn increased attention, prompting state and federal regulators to grapple with the challenges of how to regulate this ubiquitous class of compounds.

According to the Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council, 12 states have adopted drinking water, surface water or groundwater screening level values equivalent to 70 parts per trillion as listed in the 2016 EPA drinking water health advisories for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). While the EPA has not yet established a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for PFOA and PFOS, states are already aggressively pressing the EPA to expand its approach to PFAS and establish MCLs for other PFAS compounds. The EPA already has used its Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement authority to require actions on known plumes at military sites.

In the EPA’s PFAS Action Plan, the agency committed to listing PFAS as hazardous substances — a game-changing move that will require PFAS management in accordance with existing remediation programs and enable enforcement of regulations, which may require the investigation and remediation of PFAS contamination. The agency also committed to proposing an MCL for PFOA and PFOS in 2019 and collecting information to determine if regulation is needed for a broader class of PFAS. (more…)