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Matthew Jokajtys | April 30, 2013
EPA has just extended to tenants the Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser (“BFPP”) protection, by which Congress previously exempted certain prospective owners from harsh Superfund liability. Even where the landlord loses its BFPP protection, the new EPA enforcement guidance memo allows tenants to hold onto it, assuming the tenant can meet certain requirements. Traditionally, a tenant derived [...]
Matthew Jokajtys | April 8, 2013
Beginning in the winter of 2006-2007, bees began to die in – or simply disappear from – commercial hives around the US. Increasing numbers of beekeepers since then reported similar disappearances of bees, and the phenomenon became known as Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. While the exact causes of CCD are unknown, beekeepers and environmental [...]
Matthew Jokajtys | January 21, 2013
How do you clean up something as big and messy as the Gowanus Canal? On January 23-24, 2013, the United States Environmental Protection Agency will explain and defend its December 27, 2012, “Proposed Plan” for remediating the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site in Brooklyn, NY. The Proposed Plan formally identifies EPA’s “preferred remedy” for the pollution [...]
Matthew Jokajtys | December 12, 2012
A federal court in New York recently decided that the migration of subterranean contamination onto a neighboring property was not, by itself, a sufficient basis to hold a neighboring landowner jointly liable for remediation costs under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”).
Matthew Jokajtys | December 4, 2012
Congress enacted the Superfund Act, whose formal name is the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or CERCLA, in 1980 to promote the clean up (remediation) of properties, typically abandoned landfills or other sites, that had been contaminated by the disposal of hazardous materials. To further this goal, Congress cast a wide net and [...]
James J. Periconi, Esq. | June 25, 2012
Since our last post regarding the current federal regulations of high-volume hydraulic fracturing (i.e., “fracking”) for extraction of natural gas from shale, there have been several developments on the federal level.
James J. Periconi, Esq. | June 18, 2012
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Clean Water Act does not allow citizen suits to enforce the conditions of a § 404 Permit. See Atchafalaya Basinkeeper v. Chustz, No. 11-30471 (5th Cir. Apr. 25, 2012).
James J. Periconi, Esq. | March 26, 2012
The Supreme Court of the United States has just unanimously ruled that administrative orders issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) under section 319 of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) are “final agency actions” subject to judicial review under the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”). Sackett v. United States EPA, 566 U.S. ____ (2012).
James J. Periconi, Esq. | February 22, 2012
In State v. Solvent Chemical Co., 10-2026-cv (2nd Cir. Dec. 19, 2011), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that Solvent Chemical Company (“Solvent”) could obtain a declaratory judgment that two adjacent property owners were responsible for future costs incurred by Solvent under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ [...]
James J. Periconi, Esq. | January 10, 2012
The federal Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit recently denied three environmental groups’ motion to intervene in a lawsuit between the District of Columbia (“District”) and Potomac Electric Power Company and Pepco Energy Services, Inc. (collectively, “Pepco”), which concerned a consent decree under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) entered into between the District and [...]
Extension of New York State Fracking Moratorium Passes State Assembly, But its Ultimate Fate is Unclear Destruction of Oil Spill Investigation Data Ruled Not Sufficiently Prejudicial to Warrant the Dismissal of a Cost Recovery Action Under Navigation Law § 12 EPA to Defend its “Proposed Plan” for Remediating the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site During Public Meetings on January 23 and 24, 2013 DEC “Incidental Take” Permit Regulations Survive Challenge “Fracking NY” Blog Series: Update – Federal Regulations 11th Circuit Decision Follows that of Niagara v. Mohawk: Under CERCLA, Parties Who Enter Into Consent Decree with Government Are Limited to a § 113(f) Contribution Claim 