On July 30, 2024, the U.S. EPA Office of Inspector General issued a fraud alert to bring attention to an increasing number of companies reporting that they have received fraudulent EPA Notice of Violation letters demanding payment. Businesses have received these fraudulent letters through email and U.S. Postal Service mail. The letters allege that the
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First Circuit Rejects Challenges to Federal Permits for Vineyard Wind 1
Below is an excerpt of a legal update co-authored with Real Estate + Development Group lawyer Eden Yerby.
In companion rulings favoring offshore wind developers and federal agencies, the First Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed rulings issued by the District Court (D. Mass.) and dismissed challenges brought by two Vineyard Wind opponents concerning
EPA Turns Up the Pressure on Chemical Release Prevention and Preparation
On May 10, 2024, extensive revisions recently adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations (40 CFR Part 68) will take effect. The revisions, dubbed by EPA as the “Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Rule,” reinstate certain Obama-era provisions previously rolled back under the Trump administration. However, the
Connecticut’s Amended Environmental Justice Statute: Where Does It Stand?
Earlier this year, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) released a “Connecticut Environmental Justice Public Participation Guidance Document” (‘the Guidance”) concerning the 2023 amendments to Connecticut’s environmental justice (EJ) statute regarding permitting or other approvals for certain facilities. Although helpful in indicating DEEP’s interpretation of the amended statute (which is not a
EPA Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training Receives Good Grades from OIG, but Room for Improvement
The EPA Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) February 15, 2024, report on EPA’s practices in collecting, retaining, and producing criminal discovery materials in environmental cases found that EPA’s special agents largely adhered to requirements embedded in the due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the Brady doctrine, the Jencks Act, and the Federal Rules of
EPA Lowers the Fine Particulate NAAQS: A Closer Look at Implementation and Potential Impacts
On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Final Rule lowering the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) from the current level of 12 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) to 9 μg/m3. Once published, the Final Rule is certain to be challenged in
Nine PFAS Compounds Proposed to be Hazardous Constituents Under RCRA
On February 8, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published two proposed rules in the Federal Register that would expand the EPA’s authority to address certain per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). These rules would significantly increase the EPA’s and authorized state’s authority to address the release of
Sixth Circuit Rejects Nationwide PFAS Class
This article was originally published by ACOEL on December 12.
“Seldom is so ambitious a case filed on so slight a basis.” Those are words a plaintiff’s lawyer would hate to hear, but that is exactly how the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals began its opinion rejecting an Ohio firefighter’s attempt to certify a
Tidal Changes in U.S. Offshore Wind Development
Below is an excerpt of an article co-authored with Jessica Bardi and Eden Yerby, members of Robinson+Cole’s Coastal + Offshore Resources Industry Team, and published in The Maritime Executive.
Offshore wind (OSW) deployment is a key component of the Biden administration’s renewable energy goals, including the installation of 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and
EPA to Increase Air Monitoring at Marine Ports
In a recent report, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) describes steps the EPA should take to increase air monitoring at marine ports and neighboring communities. While not agreeing to adopt all of the OIG’s recommendations, EPA has agreed to assess the air-monitoring network around ports and in near-port communities and