When you operate a business that is heavily scrutinized for its environmental impact, there is always the potential that you can end up the subject of a criminal investigation. In fact, these kinds of actions are not particularly uncommon. Companies are frequently...
Federal Environmental Law
In Oil Spill Case, Common Law Negligence Claim Against Insurer Not Time-Barred Despite Policy
Sometimes simple common law principles are the best way to litigate against insurance companies. Specifically, if the insurance policy calls for a two-year limitations period to sue, make sure your attorney alleges common law negligence against the insurance carrier...
Split Second Circuit Panel Invokes Chevron Doctrine, Reverses Southern District and Reinstates EPA’s Water Transfers Rule
In a 2-1 ruling, the Second Circuit reversed Southern District Judge Kenneth Karas, who had found that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "Water Transfers Rule" was an unreasonable interpretation of the Clean Water Act. Writing for the majority and...
Basics of the “Oil Spill Act,” Article 12 of the New York Navigation Law
New York's Oil Spill Act, Article 12 of the New York Navigation Law, assigns strict liability to any person who has discharged petroleum, for all cleanup and removal costs associated with the cleanup of the petroleum, as well as all direct and indirect damages, such...
What Is Required to Retain the Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser Exemption from CERCLA Liability?
Have you been in the market to buy property, but learned that the property was contaminated? There are steps that you can take to avoid opening yourself up to liability.As you may remember, we recently discussed EPA's proposed and direct final rules on Amendment to...
When is Judicial Review Available for an Ongoing Federal Superfund Remediation?
The U.S. Supreme Court has recently declined to consider a case centering on the question of when a citizens' group may challenge an ongoing environmental remediation under the federal Superfund law. The Court's decision lets stand a May 2014 ruling by the Seventh...
D.C. Circuit Gives EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule the Green Light–For Now
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has lifted a nearly three-year-old stay on EPA's Cross State Air Pollution Rule ("CSAPR"), a contentious rule designed to regulate air pollution that is generated in certain states and drifts...
New York’s Highest Court to Weigh in on Who Bears the Cost of Regulatory Inaction on Fracking
Fresh off its hotly anticipated August 2014 decision upholding the right of municipalities to zone oil and gas extraction operations out of their towns, the New York State Court of Appeals is set to weigh in on another oil and gas extraction issue. This latest matter...
Perfluorinated Chemicals: Emerging Contaminant, Emerging Liability
Despite - even because of - their useful properties, perfluorinated chemicals ("PFCs") are increasingly thought to be dangerous for the environment, and potentially humans. PFCs are manmade substances with the ability to repel both water and oils, and are responsible...
EPA Blocks Clean Water Act Funding for Tappan Zee Bridge Reconstruction
The U.S. EPA easily rejected Governor Andrew Cuomo's loan request, refraining from calling it chutzpah of the highest order: the Governor tried to pass off bridge construction as an environmental project worthy of the federal Clean Water State Revolving Fund...
