Go to the head of the class if you know the difference between CAFE standards and CAFO standards: in January of 2011, new corporate average fuel economy ("CAFE") standards went into effect, requiring all automobile manufacturers to curb the amount of greenhouse gases...
Year: 2013
DEC Announces New Environmental Self-Audit Policy With Incentives For Participating Businesses
Have you ever wondered what you can do to reduce fines for environmental violations that you suspect you may have, but you live in fear of an environmental enforcement action that hammers you for it?You may be able to avoid some of the pain by simply telling the...
New York’s Highest Court to Weigh in on Local Fracking Bans in Closely-Watched Dryden and Middlefield Cases
In a highly unusual move, the New York Court of Appeals has decided to hear an appeal despite an intermediate appeals court's unanimous ruling. It was no surprise that Norse Energy Corp. USA appealed that lower court ruling upholding the right of New York...
New York’s Highest Court to Weigh in on Local Fracking Bans in Closely-Watched Dryden and Middlefield Cases
In a highly unusual move, the New York Court of Appeals has decided to hear an appeal despite an intermediate appeals court's unanimous ruling. It was no surprise that Norse Energy Corp. USA appealed that lower court ruling upholding the right of New York...
UPDATED: Federal Court Upholds $105 Million Judgment Against ExxonMobil in Bellwether Groundwater Contamination Litigation
Here's a pop quiz: after an eleven week trial in federal court, a jury hands down a verdict of nearly $105 million against ExxonMobil for contaminating New York City's drinking water. On appeal, the verdict is upheld. What environmental law enabled the jury to find,...
Soil Vapor Intrusion Concern Prompts EPA to Support Revision to Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Protocol
The health threats posed by physical contact with contaminated soil or groundwater are well known. But increasingly, state and federal regulators are recognizing that harmful vapors from such contamination can be drawn into nearby buildings and pose a threat to the...
EPA Excludes Certain Solvent-Contaminated Rags from RCRA Regulation
In a move that has made industry insiders "ecstatic," EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy signed a final rule on July 22, 2013 which will exclude certain solvent-contaminated industrial rags or wipes from regulation under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery...
What does the President’s Climate Action Plan mean for New York City?
After the cap and trade program died in Congress in 2009, and the successor to the Kyoto Protocol never appeared at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Conference, climate change stagnated on the national agenda of the United States. With a hyper-partisan Congress, it became...
When Does the Discovery of Historic Contamination Qualify as a “Sudden and Accidental” Release?
Many insurance policies contain a "pollution exclusion" which seeks to exclude coverage for losses arising from pollution, except in the case of a "sudden and accidental" release. "Sudden and accidental" may bring to mind a burst pipe or overturned tanker truck, but a...
Appellate Division Upholds Right of New York Municipalities to Regulate Fracking through Zoning Ordinances
Municipalities in New York have received the green light to regulate fracking - even to the point of banning it - through local zoning ordinances. It's a second consecutive victory for municipalities in the New York courts, and an affirmation of New York's long...
