An important lesson on contracting with environmental consultants recently came out of a federal district court in California in Golden Gate Way, LLC v. Enercon Services, Inc., 20-cv-03077-EMC (N.D. Cal. Nov. 18, 2021).

Golden Gate Way (GGW) hired environmental consultant Enercon to perform a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment in connection with a refinancing…

This post is part of an ongoing series covering the Biden administration’s efforts pursuant to Executive Order 13990 to repeal and replace regulations adopted during the Trump administration. Prior posts include Catching Up on the 2021 Clean Water Act Releases.

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to…

On November 1, ASTM International (ASTM) released a revised standard for conducting Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Phase I ESAs). The new standard – ASTM E1527-21 – establishes new requirements for complying with the “All Appropriate Inquiry” (AAI) rule in 40 CFR Part 312. The AAI is an essential element of environmental due diligence used…

On October 22, 2021, EPA published a proposed rule that would, if adopted, provide a significantly enhanced additional pathway for remediation of sites impacted by polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs. EPA helpfully included a redline version showing proposed changes to the regulatory text. EPA is receiving comments on the proposed rule until December 21, 2021.

PCBs…

On Friday, November 5, 2021, OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) was issued (with most of the requirements to go into effect on December 5) and, almost immediately, it faced a number of legal challenges in various courts. The first court to make a ruling was the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals…

On November 2, 2021, the U.S. EPA announced revisions to its mercury inventory reporting rule under TSCA. The revisions eliminate an exemption for companies that import pre-assembled products containing a mercury-added component. The will result in companies that import certain batteries, switches, pumps, thermostats, fluorescent lights, and other industrial equipment to file reports under TSCA…

Under the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S. EPA has made advancing Environmental Justice (EJ) a leading priority. At times it has felt like EPA releases an EJ-related announcement, policy, or guidance every day. While that may be an exaggeration, EPA has taken numerous actions related to EJ issues over the last nine months. Perhaps the most…