A federal district court in Oklahoma has held that CERCLA may not be used as a regulatory standard to state a claim for negligence per se. The plaintiffs in Bristow First Assembly of God, et al. v. BP, p.l.c., et al., N.D. Okla., No. 15-CV-523, brought a series of claims against a group of
North Carolina Adds New Protections for CAFOs Against Nuisance Lawsuits
By statute, North Carolina has capped the monetary awards available for nuisance claims related to agricultural or forestry operations. The law, H.B. 467, was designed to protect hog farms and other concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) from substantial judgments in odor nuisance lawsuits. It limits compensatory damages to the reduction in the fair market
OMB Guidance Weakens President Trump’s Executive Order on Deregulation
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently released a guidance document on the subject of President Trump’s January 30, 2017 executive order, EO 13771, titled “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Cost.” That executive order garnered a great deal of attention with its bold but simplistic decree that “[u]nless prohibited by law, whenever
Industry Groups Sue to Block Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule
Nine trade associations, including the American Chemistry Council, the American Petroleum Institute, and the American Forest & Paper Association, have filed a Petition for Review challenging the EPA’s Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule. The rule was developed by the Obama Administration and was not finalized until after the election, on November 28, 2016. It is
EPA Delays Implementation of All Pending New Rules
The EPA announced today that it is delaying the effective date of all regulations that have been published in the Federal Register but are not yet effective. There are 30 such regulations, all of which are now scheduled to become effective on March 21, 2017. The action was taken to comply with the White House’s
Subsurface Intrusion Pathway Will Now Be Considered During CERCLA Site Listing Process Under New EPA Rule
On January 9, 2017, EPA issued a final rule adding subsurface intrusion (SsI) as a component to the Hazard Ranking System (HRS), which is the mechanism that is used for determining the eligibility of sites for CERCLA’s National Priorities List (NPL). The rule allows the threat of subterranean vapor migration into regularly occupied structures to
EPA Publishes Study on the Impacts of Fracking on Drinking Water
Since the beginning of the fracking boom, the potential impact of fracking operations upon groundwater has been a hotly contested area. The most recent addition to the public debate is a new EPA report, entitled “Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas: Impacts from the Hydraulic Fracturing Water Cycle on Drinking Water Resources in the
Midwest Environmental Group Seeks to Increase Citizen Suits During Trump’s Presidency
Last week the Environmental Law and Policy Center, (ELPC) a Midwest-focused public interest environmental legal advocacy organization, held a post-election briefing outlining its plan for action during the Trump presidency. Featuring prominently in the presentation was the launch of ELPC’s High Impact Environmental Litigation Program, or HELP. The organization envisions a platoon of pro-bono attorneys
EPA Rulemaking in the Trump Administration
Mr. Trump made cutting regulations a central promise of his campaign. At one point he suggested 70% of federal regulations could be eliminated. Although his staff quickly walked that number back, there is little doubt that at least a few EPA regulations will be among those the administration will target.
An agenda that involves a
How President-Elect Trump’s Environmental Policy Might Shift Environmental Protection Responsibility to the States and Citizens
Donald Trump is set to assume the presidency on January 20, 2017. At Environmental Law Next we are taking a look at what that will mean for American environmental law. We will be providing our own perspective as well as directing our readers to the insights of others that are keeping an eye on what