The D.C. Circuit ruled this week that EPA must discontinue its practice of banning grant recipients from serving on its federal advisory committees. This precedent-setting ruling reverses a lower court’s decision which found the EPA did not violate a conflict-of-interest statute regarding executive branch employees and related regulations. The D.C. Circuit’s ruling comes in a lawsuit seeking to overturn former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt’s October 2017 directive regarding alleged conflicts […]

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The State Water Board adopted a regulation this week requiring the state’s largest urban retail water suppliers to report their monthly water use. A similar emergency policy was adopted on a mandatory basis during the last statewide drought; however, since November 2017, reporting has been implemented on a voluntary basis. The regulation affects California’s 400 largest water systems serving approximately 90% of the state’s population. The goal of collecting this […]

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EPA’s head compliance official, Susan P. Bodine, recently announced EPA’s intention to loosen regulatory enforcement for businesses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a memo dated March 26, 2020, Bodine refers to pandemic conditions that have complicated enforcement, including a smaller workforce, social distancing requirements, and travel restrictions. Given all of these sudden, dramatic changes, EPA concludes that “efforts to protect workers and the public from COVID-19 may […]

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Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Gregory A. Christian, et al. (Case No. 17-498) is set for oral argument before the Supreme Court on December 3, 2019, and the outcome could have broad implications for private parties seeking to recoup costs from PRPs for cleanup activities that are beyond the scope of EPA’s chosen remedy under CERCLA. The case involves the Anaconda Smelter Superfund Site in Butte, Montana.  Contamination from the Anaconda […]

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