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
General Environmental
Presidential Executive Order Begins Rollback of the “Waters of the United States Rule”
The rollback of the controversial Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule is underway. Last week, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army (Army) to review and rescind or rewrite the WOTUS rule, which was adopted in 2015 by the previous administration. That rule…
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…
Stream Protection Rule Update
On February 16th, President Trump signed a bill repealing the so-called stream protection rule, which was designed to prohibit dumping of debris from mountaintop removal mining into valleys and streams below the mining activity. The rule was promulgated by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) and went into effect on January 19th,…
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…
EPA’s Newly Adopted Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule: A Much-Needed Improvement
On November 28, 2016, the EPA published its Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule, finalizing a much-needed update to the 30-year old Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste generator regulations. The Rule includes over 60 changes to the hazardous waste generator regulations to make them easier to understand, which will presumably increase compliance,…
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…