Tagged: EPA

EPA Agrees to Push Back Comment Deadline for Proposed Financial Assurance Regs

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) recently extended the public comment period for a proposed rule which would impose financial assurances requirements for cleanups conducted by companies in the hardrock mining industry, as required by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”). In publishing the proposed rule on January 11, 2017, the EPA established a 60-day comment period for impacted parties to present their views on the rule to EPA. An overview of the financial assurance requirements imposed by CERCLA and the details of the proposed rule can be found in our prior posts on June 13, 2016 and January 4, 2017. On February 17, 2017, Congressmen Greg Walden (R-OR), Rob Bishop (R-UT), and Bill Shuster (R- PA) asked then-acting EPA Administrator Catherine McCabe to extend the comment period into the summer of 2017, citing the intricacies of the rule and complicated statistics on which EPA relied in drafting the rule. A week later, on February 24, 2017, recently confirmed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt granted the request and extended the comment period by four months, claiming that the extension was in response to dozens of requests from stakeholders, in addition to the letter from the congressmen. Comments on the proposed rule are now due by July 11, 2017. The environmental attorneys at...

USEPA Grants Technical Assistance to Coopers Ferry Partnership to Study SMART Initiative in Camden, N.J.

On July 19, 2012, Coopers Ferry Partnership was one of 17 community partners selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to receive technical assistance as part of its 2011 strategic agenda to renew support for green infrastructure and promote its effective implementation. The Coopers Ferry Partnership will receive $70,000 to advance projects aimed at reducing water pollution in Camden, New Jersey.

Gibbons Real Property & Environmental Department Adds David Freeman to the New York Office

David J. Freeman, formerly head of the Environmental Practice Group at the New York City office of Paul Hastings, has joined Gibbons P.C.’s New York office as a Director in the Real Property & Environmental Department. Mr. Freeman represents the buyers, sellers, and developers of properties in all environmental law areas including brownfields, due diligence, hazardous waste cleanups, and sustainability. He also litigates matters related to remediation, cost recovery, property damage, and exposure to toxic substances.

EPA to Announce the Possibility of Adding Vapor Intrusion as a Component to the Hazard Ranking System

On Monday, January 3, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency published in the Federal Register, 76 Fed. Reg. 5,370 (Jan. 31, 2011), a Notice of Opportunity for Public Input on the Potential Addition of Vapor Intrusion Component to the Hazard Ranking System (the “HRS”). Should this proposal become a rule it would add another contamination pathway to analyze in connection with listing sites on the National Priorities List (the “NPL”).

EPA Announces Award of Brownfields Grants

On April 19, EPA announced awards of a total of nearly $80 million in grants to communities across the country to support the assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of brownfield sites. Twelve of the grants, totalling $2.3 million, will go to New Jersey communities, including Camden, Jersey City, Newark, and Trenton.

Construction Projects and Compliance with New Stormwater Rules

On February 1, 2010 all construction projects that are over one acre in size must comply with the United States Environmental Protection Agency rules that were published on December 1, 2009. Essentially, the new rules are deigned to control discharges from the construction site such as sediment, turbidity, nutrients and metals. See Final Rule at 74 Fed. Reg. 62,996, 63,0003-04, 63,032 (December 1, 2009). The rule is national in scope and to the extent a state’s regulations are not as demanding the federal standard must be met. Any new construction permits after February 1, 2010 to which the act applies musts comply with the federal standard.

Changing the Climate for Greenhouse Gas Regulation: Decisions by Appellate Court and EPA May Help to Pave the Way for Comprehensive Federal Legislation

Since late June, when the House narrowly passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, the loud and rancorous debate over health care may have obscured another critical issue being considered by Congress: climate change and the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. Decisions made public on successive days in September by a federal appellate court and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), however, may go a long way toward making wide-ranging federal controls over greenhouse gas emissions a reality.

EPA Proposes to Limit Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Largest Sources

On September 30, just days after finalizing its new rule on mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, EPA announced that it is proposing to use existing Clean Air Act provisions to limits such emissions from the largest sources of such emissions. The proposed rule, which focuses on sources that emit more than 25,000 tons of GHGs per year, would subject hundreds of new sources and modifications to existing sources to EPA review each year. In total, according to EPA, some 14,000 large sources would come under the proposed rule, which requires them to obtain operating permits that include limits on GHG emissions.